Fire Triangle
by NBrokenShacklesN
Summary: Having been back in time a year, it's time for Leo to join Percy on his quest to the Bermuda triangle and the sea of monsters, but first, Leo must adapt to life and camp, and life back in foster care. Rated T for nightmares (bad ones) SEQUEL TO CHANGE THROUGH FLAME read that first.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys, here's part 2! The winner of the question last time was Lindsey7618, any you asked me to put Reyna in. I was gonna do that anyway, she's going to be one of the main characters! So, yeah, you will defiantly see her, but not this chapter, you will see her in this part of the story though. Actually as this is the nightmare chapter, you might see her briefly...**

**Diclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Hey guys, do you like my creativeness of the second section, Fire triangle! I was going to call it fire and water, but then I realised he would be going to the Bermuda triangle, and well, Fire triangle sounds awesome!**

**The winner of the last question was Hasenpfeffer, and man, spell check does not like your username, have some cookies (::) (::) (::) (::), please review the character you would like to appear in the story (if only for a minute), I did try to review one of your stories, but I thought that as I don't know anything about Legend of Zelda or Sonic, that a review from me on those stories would just sound fake. Have some more cookies instead! (::) (::) (::) (::) (I'm making your computer fat ) **

**So, I'm going to answer a load of reviews here (am I allowed to do that?) so if you didn't review, 1, shame on you , 2, feel free to skip past. **

**Keytyper: Yep, Yep, nope. I want to focus on Leo, and I think that I have made Percy quite dependent on Leo; I need Percy to be the leader, not Leo. I think Leo's more of a follower (an awesome one, but still a follower) In order to do this, I need to separate Percy and Leo, so that Percy can develop on his own. So while they will remain best friends, and Leo will meet up with him and 'aunt Sally' He will not be adopted by them. **

**Cecld16: Well you're nice. KILL BIANCA! No! I get your point, and that that was what really changed Nico. Don't worry; he will still become the awesome guy we all love. However, Bianca will not die. I have found a way around that problem, and I'm afraid you'll have to wait to find out. **

**Gabrial: Ummm, I can try? I figured she won't be a main role, but I might be able to bring her in a little. I have a theory of why she turned horrible, and it won't happen in my series, hopefully. **

**I'm sorry this took a while, but it's long to make up for it! Oh, for the purposes of the story, Katie Gardener died in the Titan war (she's not the Demeter cabin councillor in TLH). I invented some surnames (Please don't kill me!)**

** For my 200****th**** reviewer Harmonic bunny... The seven, bunny style! (I learnt how to draw bunnies!)**

** (\_/) ****(\_/) ****(\_/) ****(\_/) ****(\_/)**** (\_/) ****(\_/)**

**(='.'=) ****(='.'=) **** (='.'=)****(='.'=) ****(='.'=)**** (='.'=) ****(='.'=) **

**(")_(")****(")_(") ****(")_(")****(")_(") ****(")_(")****(")_(") ****(")_(")**

**Percy, Annabeth Jason, Piper Frank, Hazel Leo **

**Here we go... IF YOU MIGHT GET NIGHTMARES, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF LEO, DON'T READ THE ITTALICED BIT, SERIOUSLY BE READY TO ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCES OF READING IT!**

Part 2

Fire Triangle

Chapter one: In which Leo's screams wake the entire cabin...

Leo was undeniably nervous. He was standing just beyond Thalia's tree on half blood hill, hesitant to enter camp. It would be completely different to his time, he knew. Still, the thing that made him the most hesitant was meeting his half brother Beckendorf. He had been routinely told about him, and how cool he was, but he still couldn't help being nervous. People always said good stuff about a dead person, so what if Beckendorf wasn't like that at all.

Leo glanced at Thalia's tree. It looked weird without the Golden Fleece hanging of a branch. It was even weirder to think that the scary lieutenant of Artemis, Jason's older sister was still imprisoned within it. Leo screwed up his courage, and walked over the boundary line, and down the hill.

He reached the bottom of the hill and stopped, unsure of where he should go. Big house? Or just wander around till someone noticed he didn't have a camp T-shirt on, or looked lost. He looked over to the cabins, and the lake. Everyone looked so happy! Leo figured that this was what camp looked like without the looming threat of a war. He couldn't help but grin, it was so loud, so hectic! It had never looked like this while he had been here in the future.

Leo felt a tear roll down the side of his face, and quickly scrubbed it away. It had been far too long since he had seen camp, since the Romans, tricked by Gaia and lead by Octavian, had stormed the place, and everything had been destroyed. The campers who escaped the slaughter, Clarisse, the Stolls, Nyssa, Michael, and a few others, had ransacked the camp funds and bought plane tickets to Greece.

"Hey! Travis!" Leo turned to see a girl of about fourteen running toward him, a bucket of crushed strawberries in her arms. She ran up to him, and then flushed pink. "Sorry, I thought you were one of the Stolls, it was the hair, I think... Ummm yeah."

Leo smiled, plastering a confused look on his face. Time to pretend he didn't know anyone. "No problemo, but ah, who are the Stolls?"

"Who..." The girl looked at him closely, "I've not seen you before..."

"Yeah, I'm new." Leo swept into a deep bow, grinning up at the girl, who he suspected was a daughter of Demeter. "Leo Valdez, at your service."

She looked slightly amused at the bow, "new? I haven't seen you around before; I must have missed the announcement of a new camper. Sorry."

"No, I mean, I just walked over the hill new." Leo grinned at the look on her face.

"But you don't have a protector..."

Leo made his confused face come back, "protector? I don't need one, I look after myself. I was just passing through New York, trying to not get eaten by any of the random weird monster things, and then there was this really bright light, and a voice told me to come here. I gotta admit though, it looks pretty awesome here, I wonder if I'll be allowed to stay."

The daughter of Demeter looked more shocked as his speech went on. "You mean you don't know?"

"Don't know what? And if the explanation can tell me why all the monsters in America have decided that roasted Valdez is their favourite food, then I would be delighted to hear it!"

The girl grabbed a hold of his arm, noticing the scars from the furies and the hellhound on the arch, "Holy Hades, what? You know what, never mind, you need to get to Chiron."

"Chiron? Hey, what's your name anyway?"

The girl blushed, "Sorry Leo, I'm Katie, Katie Gardener."

Leo fell silent at that. He had never met Katie Gardener, so as far as he knew she had either died in the Titan war, or joined the Titans. Leo thought he remembered seeing her name in miniature on Percy's bead necklace, the fifth bead, those who died in the Titan war. It felt more real now. Realistically, Leo knew he wouldn't be able to save everyone, but he would try to save as many as he could, and Katie's life was, metaphorically, in his hands.

By the time Leo had broken out of his somewhat depressing train of thought, they had reached the big house. Katie told him to wait out on the porch, so he stood awkwardly outside, as Katie went in to get Chiron.

Before too long, Chiron had come trotting out of the house, a relived smile on his face. "Leo, I am glad you are alright." Leo's anger and disappointment all came streaming back. The 'why didn't he believe me'; the 'I thought Chiron trusted me', and he couldn't help his mutter of "No thanks to you."

He felt guilty as soon as he had said it, Leo has seemed incredibly suspicious at Yancy, and he couldn't really blame Chiron for that. But a small part of him, the suspicious and not so pleasant part (a result of the war with Gaia) felt that Chiron deserved the guilt that now showed on his face.

Katie was looking between the two of them, a bewildered look on her face. "You two know each other?" She pouted slightly when she didn't get an answer from Chiron, and turned to Leo.

"Sure, if you call being accused of something you didn't do, and tattled on to Olympus by someone 'knowing each other'."

Chiron cringed, and Katie looked shocked, "Chiron, you actually..."

"Perhaps, Miss Gardener, you could leave Mr Valdez and myself to chat, and see if cabin 11 can find room for Leo."

Katie looked between the two once more, then nodded, and made her way down the hill to the cabins. The shocked look was still present on her face as she went. Halfway down, she was joined by too identical looking boys, with red strawberry juice on their hands. Leo couldn't help snorting when he saw Katie take some of the ruined strawberries in both her hands, and smear one hand into each of their faces.

After Katie had reached the cabins, two Stolls trailing behind her, Leo turned back to Chiron, his anger sufficiently cooled. "I'm sorry Chiron, that was uncalled for, I was acting kinda suspiciously I guess. I don't blame you for jumping to the conclusion you did."

"Thank you Leo, but I should have learnt by now that not everything is as it seems. I apologise. The Olympians would likely punish you immediately had you been caught. I was rather apprehensive when the bolt had been returned, and your innocent proven, yet you still didn't arrive at camp. I am glad you arrived safely."

Leo grinned "Me too, I didn't want to come to camp till I was sure I wouldn't be killed as soon as I crossed the border. Percy was protected from Olympus because of his dad, but my dad's not quite as powerful, or willing to stand up to the lord of the skies. Plus, I'm pretty sure he has other kids, if I died, though I hope he would be upset, he wouldn't care as much as Poseidon would if Percy died. He's got other kids, better kids, so I don't matter much."

Hey, Leo knew that he was powerful, as with years to go before the Titan war came to a head, he would get more powerful, but his self worth hadn't grown at all. In fact, since he came back in time, it seemed to have shrunk again. He conveniently forgot all he had achieved in the war, it hadn't actually happened to anyone but him, how could he replicate it? How would he, Leo Valdez, repair boy, manage to save as many people as Chaos wanted him to?

Chiron was looking at him sadly, "You believe your father does not care for you?"

"Oh, I hope he does, but I'm not too optimistic. I'm short, weak, compared to all the other Hephaestus kids, I'm a runt. I'm not worth dad's time."

Chiron sighed, "I don't believe that I can persuade you any differently Mr. Valdez. As it is almost time to eat, let me escort you to the dinning pavilion, I'm afraid you will have to sit with the Hermes cabin till Lord Hephaestus claims you. But I'm sure he will do so soon."

"I'm not" Leo muttered, but he figured that Chiron had heard him, from the sigh that the centaur gave. On their way to the pavilion, Leo thought about how long it would take before he was claimed. He realised that he had been claimed almost as soon as he arrived before, but that was after Percy made the gods promise to claim their kids by thirteen. By then he was sixteen. Now there was no promise and he wasn't even thirteen anyway. There was no way Hephaestus would be claiming him any time soon. Best get used to the Hermes cabin.

Leo didn't want to be claimed immediately anyway, it would make the people who had been in the Hermes cabin for ages feel resentful. He already had the enmity of Echidna; he didn't need half-blood enemies too.

* * *

Leo had been in the Hermes cabin a week. Sure it was crowded, but it was also kinda nice, in a weird way. Sure he had to sleep on the floor, but he had slept in much worse places that the floor of the Hermes cabin. He had made fast friends with Travis and Conner, who were two years older than him, but still didn't mind involving him in their pranks (while he had some good ideas himself). Travis was more excitable in this time period that the previous one. Leo suspected it was because of a certain gardener, but he wasn't saying anything. One night of sleeping in a shaving foam filled sleeping bag was enough.

He had gotten Travis back for that one though, by rigging a bucket of ice to fall on him in the middle of the night. Classics were often best, in Leo's opinion.

He had talked to Percy at the campfire on the first night. He was glad that Percy didn't blame him for anything, and when he couldn't be found with the Stolls, he would often be with Percy (and Annabeth by extension). He hadn't talked to his siblings much, as they were mostly always in the camp forge, and you weren't allowed in there, unless you were a _claimed_ child of Hephaestus. Well Leo might be slightly mad about that, but hey.

The Stolls and Annabeth had figured who his dad was, and then Annabeth told Percy. At first the Stolls had figured that Leo might be their brother, until he made a really complex prank on Luke, totally not as revenge for anything he might do, that only a son of Hephaestus could pull off. Luke has been so impressed that he forgot to prank back.

Now it was time for campfire, again. Leo had heard the Stolls planning a prank, but they stopped when he went over. Which either meant that he was the target or one of his friends was. He hoped the prank had nothing to do with the campfire, Percy, Annabeth, Grover and himself were the only ones who knew of his fire power, and he would like to keep it that way.

Leo sat next to Percy at the camp fire, grinning as her sat down, and wiping away thoughts of the immanent prank. "How's my best buddy doing this fine evening?" Sure he wasn't technically allowed to be sitting next to Percy, having to sit in cabins and all, but no-one really cared where the unclaimed demi-gods sat, and he didn't want Percy to have to sit alone. Leo knew from experience that alone sucked.

Percy grinned back, "I heard you pulled a prank on Luke, he told me about it during sword practice."

"It's not my fault if he forgot to check his bed for an ejector when he got in it. I don't think Chiron's very happy about the hole in the roof though. Even if I fixed it in under an hour." Leo looked back to the campfire as Chiron stamped his foot, taking time to whisper out of the corner of his mouth, "bet you're glad that I'm not in your cabin."

Percy snorted, "I feel sorry for Beckendorf when you're claimed."

Leo grinned again, but didn't say anything. He still hadn't spoken to Beckendorf, and the longer he left it, the more nervous he was. It was hard to talk sincerely to people he hadn't known before, but it was even harder to talk to people he knew were dead in his time. It felt like someone was standing behind them, whispering that this person would die in four years or less. That he could stop it, and if he didn't, their blood would be on his hands.

Chiron's voice echoed from the front. "Now that we are all here, I would like to ask the Apollo cabin if they would kindly lead a few campfire songs, before we get onto smores."

The Apollo cabin stood up, just as the bench underneath Percy and Leo collapsed. Leo heard the Stolls snort. So this had been the prank. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Stolls hadn't reckoned on the small amount of explosives also blowing up the bench behind Percy.

Leo could see what was going to happen. The angle that the bench was lifting, it would crash down on the Aphrodite cabin behind it. They were screaming, and trying to move away. Leo saw that if he re-angled the bench slightly left, it would land on the unoccupied bench over from the Aphrodite one. He cringed, this was going to hurt.

Leo jumped forward, and shoved all his weight onto the side of the bench, swinging it round so that it just missed Drew, sitting on the edge, and landed with a crash on the other bench, at the same time that Leo landed on the floor, clutching his shoulder. He just had time to see the Stolls horrified faces, and Percy's worried one, before the world went black.

* * *

When Leo opened his eyes, he was alone in the infirmary, it was dark, and his shoulder was bandaged. He felt like he had just been slammed by Frank in elephant form. Being at camp seemed to bring back memories of his friends. Like the sound Piper made when Jason was killed... Bad thoughts Leo, bad thoughts.

Leo tried to sit upright, and gave a little gasp at the pain, Holy Hades, that hurt. He spotted a glass of nectar by the bedside table, and reached out with his good arm to grab it. Absentmindedly, he noticed that the shoulder he had slammed the bench with, was the same arm that had the hellhound and fury scars.

Leo drank the ambrosia, and felt the pain in his shoulder disappear; he gave a relived sigh as he sank back onto the bed. He was so going to yell at the Stolls for this tomorrow, though he suspected Katie might have already done so. He hoped that Chiron put them on stable cleaning duties for a month.

The next time he awoke, the Stolls were sitting next to each other on the bed over from him, and Percy was sitting in the chair next to him. He sat up, frowning at the Stolls. "If my shoulder is permanently damaged, I am so blaming you two."

The Stolls had the grace to look ashamed at least, though Leo had a feeling that they didn't quite mean it. They had looked really guilty when he first looked at them though. They'd probably been through Chiron's lecture of 'it could have been worse, you could have seriously hurt someone.' Leo knew that lecture well. He was a prankster himself, after all.

Percy had frowned at the Stolls as well, and then turned back to Leo. "Are you sure you're alright Leo?"

"Percy, I'm Leo freaking Valdez, I'm not about to be seriously injured by a bench. Where are the heroics in that?"

Percy grinned, "Well, you did save half the Aphrodite cabin; I'm betting they think you're a right hero. They'll be colour coordinating all your clothes for you."

Leo gave a mock gasp, "not colour coordination! Aphrodite, have mercy!"

Percy gave a snort at that, and Leo heard the Stolls snickering as well. He was glad that the knock on his shoulder hadn't upset his humour any. Leo heard Travis clear his throat, and address him. "Leo, um, not that it's any of our business..." Conner took over.

"But we were kinda wondering..."

"How you got those scars on your arm."

Leo sighed. He knew that question was coming up, he was thinking of a way to answer it, when Chiron came rolling into the room, in his wheelchair. "I too would be interested in the answer to Mr Stolls' question."

Leo groaned, of course he would. "Well, these ones," Leo pointed to the three slashes that stood out plainly, pink with scar tissue, even against his tanned arm. He had to admit they looked pretty bad, running from his elbow to his wrists, and leaving gouges in his muscle. They didn't hurt nearly as much as some of the injuries he had sustained during the war, though they did look worse that he thought. "They were from a fury that attacked me the day I ran away from the school trip. Apparently the poison on the furies claws was meant to kill me, but I don't kill easily, so it just made the scars deep and unable to ever go away."

Leo looked up to see the cringe that Conner gave, "don't they really hurt?"

"Nah, they don't really hurt at all, they look worse than they are." Leo traced the thicker scar that cut diagonally across the other three. "This scar was from a hellhound, not as friendly as they look. Not that they look friendly, but, yeah. I didn't really feel that one at the time, and it wasn't until a bit later that I realised that the blood had soaked through my hoodie."

The Stolls looked appropriately horrified at that, and as they left, Leo wondered how long it would be before they spread the rumour that his arm was horrifically mangled, a memoir of him bravery, or stupidity (if you were asking Annabeth).

Leo looked to see how Chiron was taking it, and was surprised to see guilt on his face; he gave Chiron an inquiring look, matching the one Percy was already sending him.

Chiron looked at Leo intently, "When I chased you away, you were injured?"

"Yep."

"And slashed with a furies poisoned claws no less. I'm sorry Leo, I'm a healer, I should've helped you, not chased you off as I did."

"Hey no problem, plus you didn't exactly chase me, I ran. An instinct left over from all the different foster homes I've run from."

Leo ignored Percy's inquiring look, and focused on Chiron. "I am curious though, as to how you survived the poison. That is a feat that I have never heard of before, and though I admire your determination to not be killed, I doubt that was what saved you."

Leo sighed, to tell or not to tell, well, Chiron hadn't judged him in the future for it, so he figured that he wouldn't judge him now. Plus, he needed to tell someone. "That poison was meant to burn someone up from the inside out," Leo noticed Percy's wince, "but, since I have a particular ability that some children of Hephaestus get, it didn't work on me."

Leo almost thought he could see the cogs in Chiron's brain working, "you mean..."

"I'm willing to bet that it also wouldn't have worked on a certain Tomas Farriner."

"I see, does anyone else know of your gift?"

Leo almost snorted, right yeah, defiantly a gift, cus gifts always get people killed. "Percy knows about my curse sir, as does Grover, and I'm fairly sure that Annabeth does too. Other than them, and now you, no. Mom did, but she's not around anymore."

Leo ignored Chiron's sigh at his use of the word curse, but he let it drop. "Very well Leo, but you might want to mention it to Charles, after your father claims you."

"Charles?"

"Beckendorf."

"Ohhh, his first name is Charles?"

Leo was still puzzling over his half brothers first name as he and Percy left the infirmary, and made their way onto the porch. He was snapped out of his thoughts pretty quickly by the loud noise of applause he heard when they got outside. He looked down to see at least half the campers gathered outside and clapping for him. Ignoring the strange feeling spiralling inside of him, he gave a massive grin, and bowed to the gathered demi-gods, gaining a bout of laughter for his troubles.

Leo looked up to see the Stolls in the first row, and somehow wasn't at all surprised. It seemed that pretty much all of the Aphrodite cabin was there as well, as well as Beckendorf standing by Silena. He could tell the two were friends, even if they weren't together yet.

Leo grinned manically, and then heard gasps from the audience. He had a feeling he knew what that was all about, he glanced up, and sure enough, there was a fiery hammer floating above his head. Just as Chiron walked out, in his centaur form. "Hail Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus, lord of Blacksmiths, forging, and Fire."

* * *

After the flaming hammer had faded away, Leo found himself walking with Beckendorf down to the camp forge, to meet his other siblings. He had to admit, though there was only about four of them, compared to the loads there had been last time he joined the cabin, he was still apprehensive.

Leo had been a bit nervous when Beckendorf came over to him on the porch, but the smile that he offered Leo and the "Hello little brother," made his fears dissipate, Beckendorf was a great guy, and Leo was kinda looking forward to having him as an older brother.

Leo and Beckendorf reached the forge, and Beckendorf went inside. Leo hung back, suddenly the forge that he had wanted to be in all week looked less inviting. In fact Leo was all set to take a stroll through the forest and find Festus. And maybe bunker 9 while he was at it. Beckendorf re-emerged, and gave him an encouraging smile, beckoning him to follow.

Leo took a deep breath and walked by Beckendorf, and into the forge. There were four in the forge, and with Beckendorf as well, that meant Leo had five new siblings, though he knew Jake, Nyssa and Shane, there was still Beckendorf and this other guy. They were all much stronger than he was, even Shane, who was four years younger.

"Guys, this is Leo, our new half-brother."

Leo lifted a hand and waved it, looking kind of stupid, why was it now that his witty banter failed him? He could stand in front of a wakened Gaia, and still manage to throw some funny jibes. But in front of his siblings he just closed up. Why did his nerves act up now? They didn't last time he had met his family. Leo thought that the insecurities he had when he was twelve were coming back, maybe being twelve again was affecting him mentally as well as physically.

Leo paid attention again when his siblings began to introduce themselves."

Jake stepped forward, and lifted his hand, "Jake Mason"

"Nyssa Steel"

"Shane Forjar" Leo tried not to smile at that, forjar was Spanish for forge, subtle much dad, he thought.

"Chris West, I fortunately don't have a surname that immediately gives away my heritage."

Leo snickered, "I don't either, my surname's Valdez, nothing special." He was glad that Chris had a sense of humour; he got along better with people who could take a joke. "So tell me, are the bulging muscles required to be a Hephaestus kid? I'm sure I can find some inflatable ones somewhere."

The others snickered, and Beckendorf joined them, "don't worry, we'll have you lugging celestial bronze about in no time."

Leo smiled, "I'm glad to have family with a sense of humour!"

Jake looked at him inquiringly, "Your mom doesn't?"

"Oh mom did," Leo noticed how all five froze at the 'did', he was grateful for it, but he was getting used to no-one caring. Seeing people who did was refreshing. "I'm talking about my aunt."

"Oh, you live with her?" Jake said, ignoring Chris's frantic cut it out action.

"Nah, she didn't want me. So, is there anything I can help with? It has been way too long since I've been in a workshop of any sort."

Nyssa stood forward. "You can help me with the shield I'm making; I need two sets of hands for this next phase."

"Ok."

By the time the conch shell had sounded for dinner, Leo had helped Nyssa finish the moulding of her shield, and started a miniature of Festus, that actually blew fire. His siblings were impressed with his talent and attention to detail. The fact that it actually blew fire made Beckendorf grin, and he could've sworn he heard Chris giggle.

* * *

After campfire, the six of them had gone back to the Hephaestus cabin, where Leo had dropped his stuff off earlier. He was sleeping in the bed that had been Harley's in his time. As Harley wasn't at camp yet though, Leo had it. It didn't take very long for him to drop off to sleep, but then the nightmares that had been threatening finally appeared...

_Jason was flying over the Argo two, dropping Greek fire over Gaia's army, when a cannon ball from a machine piloted by two Cyclops hit him in the side, he lost control, and plummeted, the sound when he hit the ground played over and over, the splat of the son of Jupiter falling was heard over 200 metres away on the Argo two, accompanied by the mournful wail that Piper gave when her heart split in two. _

_ Hazel and Frank had been missing for twelve hours when the other four arrived in Greece, only to find their decapitated corpses, riddled with whip marks, and torture scars, drained of blood, and their heads stuck on spears, with grotesque smiles fixed on them. _

_ The full brunt of Gaia's army was upon them, every demi-god fighting for their lives, Clarisse and Piper back to back, Kapatrios and Maimer twirling so fast they looked like a blur. Until the anti-Ares giant swung his club, and shattered both weapons, leaving Clarisse and Piper to be stuck like pin cushions, Piper's last scream echoing through the field, and turning all the monsters to dust._

_ Percy and Annabeth died together, Probably the only merciful thing Gaia did, but she had learnt from Piper that killing couples separately made them stronger, and while they had both drowned in mud at Gaia's feet, they did it together, as they had done everything together. Even Gaia could not separate them after death. _

_ Then it was no longer memories, Leo's mother joined the corpses that Leo saw lining up in front of him, her flesh burnt and horribly blackened, some hanging of her flame marked bones brown with heat, showing in place where the fire had burnt the flesh right off, and some was hanging down, half cooked meat._

_ "Mom, no!"_

_ The corpses opened blank eyes, Hazel and Frank's heads swivelling round the pole to glare at him, the mouths opened, or what was left of them, "Your fault, all your fault,"_

_ "No, please, No, I didn't, I..."_

_ "Your fault Leo" Leo turned to where the mess that used to be Jason was, "you killed me, you could have stopped the cannon, had you been paying attention. It's your fault I'm dead."_

_ And the chorus began again, "your fault, all you fault Leo,"_

_ "Stop, please..."_

_ "Your fault Leo, your fault Leo, your fault Leo."_

_ "No, please, I, I'm, I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry."_

_ "Sorry won't bring us back, won't save us!"_

_ And Leo felt the tears rush down his face, his voice broke as he curled in on himself, amid the chorus that they all had taken up, as broken words rushed from his lips, as he shook, "I'm I'm sorry, so, so, sorry, please, please, I'm sorry."_

_ "Your fault Leo"_

_ "Your fault Leo"_

_ "Your Fault!"_

"Leo!"

"Leo, wake up! Wake up!"

**Next question:**

_**What is the command (word) that Percy gives to the pirate ship in the sea of monsters, which gets it to raise the sail?**_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: You caught me, you caught me! I made a mistake! I'm so sorry, but here's my excuse. I figured that yes, while the anti-Ares giant is Damasen and he is a peaceful giant (the BFG!), Gaia and Tartarus would be mad that their son betrayed them, so have another giant to replace him. And he took Damasen's place as the Anti-Ares. Is that OK? I'm sorry again for the mistake, but you can call Damasen's replacement Damian. So the giant who killed Piper and Clarisse was Damian (no offence intended to anyone called Damian)!**

** Lindsey7618- it was indeed mizzenmast, and so you get another chance at who you want in my story, briefly. Since Reyna is already in, you get to choose someone else, and they will be in a little longer, because you got two questions. Have cookies (::) (::) (::) (::)! Please review your person. (If you win again though, I might have to go to the next person, because it's slightly unfair for the same person to win all the time.) And yes, I killed of Jason (Mwh ha) **

** ReAdErSfOrEvEr, aww really (I am, by the way, hopefully going to write a book...)**

** Sorry about the cliff-hanger (not really****J). There is a bit in this chapter from Nyssa's P.O.V, and Beckendorf's P.O.V. I couldn't help myself :)****  
**

** Here we go... (shorter chapter again)**

Chapter 2: In which Leo recovers, sort of...

_"Leo, wake up! Wake up!"_

* * *

Leo sat up with a gasp, the guilt clinging to him. Where was he? He looked round in shock at the dark cabin. Hephaestus cabin? But it was destroyed by Gaia, and Octavian. How was he here, with Nyssa sitting beside him, a frown on her face? He had seen Nyssa die, seen as a sword was driven through her from behind, courtesy of one of Gaia's earthborn. So how was she here? And looking years younger that he had last seen her. Unless this was Elysium, and he had died, but then, the underworld had been destroyed.

"Leo?" Nyssa reached out her arm, and Leo backed off, pressing himself against the wall, hands coming up to defend himself.

"Please," Leo whimpered, causing Nyssa to draw back with a frown and glance to someone else. Who was that? He looked like Beckendorf, or descriptions of Beckendorf he had been given, but he too looked young. "What's going on? Where am I?"

The guy who looked like Beckendorf came forward, and Leo cringed. If it was Beckendorf, would he be mad that Leo had gotten Nyssa and everyone killed. It was his fault after all; even his Mom had said so. All his fault, of course Beckendorf would be mad, if fact he'd probably kick him out of the cabin. He deserved it of course. Beckendorf placed a hand of his shoulder, and Leo cringed and shrunk away, waiting for the blow that would surely come.

* * *

**Nyssa's P.O.V**

Nyssa was lying in bed awake, thinking about her new little brother. He was practically a genius in the forge, and she felt slightly guilty she hadn't noticed him at all in the week he had been a camp. She had seen him glancing wistfully at the forge, but hadn't really paid attention. Hades, he must think she was an awful sister. What sort of sister doesn't even notice her brother for a week?

She was slightly apprehensive of his team up with the Stolls though, his genius in the forge, if it was turned to pranks... She didn't want the camp razed to the ground, but that seemed the most lightly outcome... "No, please, no,

Nyssa turned in her bed, to look over at the bed that had Leo in. She frowned; he was tossing and turning like he was having a bad dream. O gods, what if he was? He had said earlier that he hadn't been in a workshop for a while, and that his mom did have a sense of humour. She didn't need to be an Athena kid to figure out his mom's death was the reason he hadn't been in a workshop for ages. What if his being in the forge had brought back unwanted memories? She heard mutters coming from him, and strained her ears to hear them. "Mom, no!"

Nyssa winced, she was a year round camper, since her mom had died in childbirth, and she had been in foster care since. Her foster parents had been devout Christians though, and when they heard about her father, they hadn't believed it at all, and had politely told her to leave and never come back, after driving her too camp. But then sending her off. Yeah, she felt slightly resentful, but hey, they had given her money, and a way to camp, so she didn't hate them. Especially not once she found out some of her brother's pasts. Let's just say the scars on Chris's back hadn't come from a monster (well not a monster from Tartarus, though she defiantly deserved to be sent there!)

Point was, Nyssa didn't really know how to comfort Leo, but she knew who did...

* * *

**Beckendorf's P.O.V.**

Charles Beckendorf was having a very nice, dream free sleep, at least he had been. He woke with a jerk to feel someone shaking him. He regretted not retreating into his private room, but it was cabin policy that everyone remains in the main room on a new camper's first night. Just in case. He grunted and sat up.

"Nyssa? What..."

"Leo, I think he's having a nightmare."

Beckendorf glanced over at the bed that held his new brother, worry clear on his face. He didn't show much emotion outside the cabin, but with his siblings, who were as socially awkward as he was, it didn't seem to matter as much that he was bad at expressing himself. He was the oldest in the cabin, the leader, the big brother, and he hated it when his siblings were hurting. He was better with machines than people, but he still didn't want his family sad.

He was worried about his newest brother. He couldn't say littlest, because Shane was younger, even if he was almost as tall. Leo was seriously small for a son of Hephaestus. He was full of humour, but Beckendorf could see the sorrow he was trying to hide. Maybe he was spending too much time with Silena. Leo cried out again, and Beckendorf frowned. It seemed he was right to worry.

He quickly through off the covers, and made his way over to Leo's bed, just in time to hear his brother cry again. "I'm I'm sorry, so, so, sorry, please, please, I'm sorry." Looked like he was carrying round a bucket load of guilt. His mom's death?

Nyssa seemed like she couldn't watch any longer, she sat next to Leo, who was now curled up in a ball, sobbing softly. She placed a hand on his arm. "Leo!" "Leo, wake up, wake up!"

Nyssa's almost shout definitely woke the other three in the cabin, and Beckendorf heard Jake, Chris and Shane join him, looking at Leo in worry.

Leo shot up with a gasp, and confused eyes looked around, before coming to settle on Nyssa. He kept crying, though his eyes showing such a deep sadness that he heard Chris gasp, and Shane whimper, Beckendorf didn't blame him, heck, he felt like whimpering at the amount of pain in the eyes of his little brother, and vowed revenge on whoever put it there, if they weren't dead already. Shane was only eight after all, he could whimper if he wanted to.

"Leo?" Meanwhile, Nyssa had reached out an arm toward the still shaking Leo, who shrunk back in fear. The look in his eyes reminded Beckendorf of a caged animal, scared and in pain, almost feral.

"Please." Leo raised his hands to shield his face, and pressed further back, his eyes wide and blown. Nyssa turned toward Beckendorf her eyes helpless and pleading. He moved forward coming closer to the bed, as Leo spoke again. "What's going on? Where am I?"

The uncertainty in Leo's voice was painful, and Beckendorf placed a hand on his shoulder, wincing slightly when Leo drew back, and turned away, shaking more, and looking like he expected to be hit. Beckendorf quickly removed his hand, and saw Leo relax a little. He gently turned Leo's head so he could see right into Leo's frightened eyes.

"It's ok Leo, you're safe. No-one's gonna hurt you."

"W-, who are you?"

"I'm your brother, Beckendorf, remember. You're at camp, somewhere safe from the monsters. And no-one here will hurt you." Beckendorf had a momentary thought of Clarisse, but he wouldn't let her hurt Leo. At least not anymore that she had already hurt him. He recalled Leo's second day at camp, when she had challenged him to a fight, and he had fought with a hammer, which really should have made it obvious who his father was. And he had managed to hold his own for so long, that when Clarisse finally won she declared that, _"You're not too bad for a runt"_, which was pretty much the highest praise you got from Clarisse.

Leo still looked confused, "but, what Camp?" Beckendorf frowned, then immediately stopped when Leo shrunk in on himself again, it was like Leo had completely forgotten the last week.

Leo spoke again, "Where's Percy?"

Percy Jackson? Beckendorf thought. It must be, "Percy's fine, he's sleeping in his cabin, and no-one's gonna hurt him either."

Those seemed to be the words that calmed him down, and his confused eyes returned to normal, although he now looked embarrassed. "Aw, man, a nightmare now... I haven't had one in ages. I hoped they'd gone."

Beckendorf was more worried over the fact Leo had had nightmares before, than he had one now. He was so glad it had been today, and not tomorrow, when everyone retreated into private rooms, and he wouldn't have had a clue his brother was having a nightmare. He was glad that Leo seemed to be back to normal now, and he leant forward, and wrapped his arms around Leo's small frame.

Leo stiffened, then relaxed. And somehow, Beckendorf wasn't particularly surprised when he felt Nyssa join the hug, then Shane, and then the other two gave shrugs, and joined the group hug simultaneously.

When they all separated out, Chris snickered, then Leo joined in, and before long they were all practically rolling on the floor laughing, though none of them had a clue what they were laughing at. The yell of _"Shut up, punks!" _and the thrown grenade that shook the cabin only seemed to increase the hilarity.

**AN: Next question:**

**_What is an essential tool for demigods that Beckendorf throws to Percy in the Last Olympian? _**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: LINDSEY7618 you haven't told me what character you want me to put in, you won the last question, remember! But this chapter is going up anyway, because I want to update, and a little lack of a character to put in the story won't stop me! Put it in a later review, and I'll add it to a later chapter.**

** Anyway... The winner of the last question was Percebeth Jackson-Chase, congrats! Have cookies (::) (::) (::) (::), and remember to review the person you want me to put briefly in my story! **

** Yep, it was Clarisse at the end, who else would throw a grenade at the Hephaestus cabin? (Aside from the rest of Ares cabin) And I meant when Clarisse Won, she finally declared that... I accidently wrote one instead of won. You are good at pointing out mistakes in a nice way. You could be a teacher...**

** I'm planning to do all the Percy Jasckson books, but please bear in mind that this is an AU, so the stories may not be the same as the books, SPOILER (IE, Leo will replace Percy as the one to fight Hyperion) WHAT, I TOLD YOU IT WAS A SPOILER. **

** Yeah, can an American reviewer (If I have any) kindly explain to a poor stupid English girl what duck tape is? I am ignorantly assuming it is an American thing. Is it like cello tape? **

** On with the chapter...**

Chapter 3: In which Leo captures a flag...

"Whose team are we on?"

Leo had been looking forward to capture the flag all week, and yeah, so what if he had been knocked out by a bench two nights ago, and had a nightmare that woke his entire cabin last night (which he was still kinda embarrassed about), he was not missing it!

The rest of his cabin were being very protective of him, and while he didn't blame them, he would have done the same to Harley, or any of the others who were in the Hephaestus cabin in his past future. It was getting a little irritating though, even Shane was being overprotective, and he was four years younger for Hephaestus's sake! It was Leo's job to protect him, not the other way around.

Leo was still kinda shaken up about the dream though; he had asked Chaos about it. The reply of 'I only dulled the memories, I couldn't take them away entirely' explained why he was getting the nightmares. But it was just his dam bad luck that made sure the first nightmare he had in the past, or present now, was his first day in cabin 9. He knew the cabin rule about no-one sleeping in their underground room during someone's first day. It would have been easier to wake up alone and sort it out without his siblings being overprotective. Then again, he was forced to admit to himself, he kinda liked that his siblings were being protective, and that they had comforted him last night. It was good to see that they cared.

"Leo, you're spacing out. Are you sure you're OK."

Nyssa, of course she would notice, out of all of cabin 9, she was the best with 'organic life forms' as his dad would say. "I'm fine Nyssa, honestly, I was just thinking." He didn't think that helped his case. Time to change the subject before he dug a hole so deep it reached Tartarus.

"Whose team are we on?"

Nyssa sighed, but picked up the spear she had been working on, and finally answered him. "We have made a temporary alliance with Athena, just for this game. Hermes cabin hold one of the flags; the red one. Athena cabin the other. Hermes got the flag off Ares last time; so now Hermes holds the flag. It's Hermes, Apollo, Dionysius, Ares and Aphrodite. They're against Athena, Poseidon, Demeter and us. We're outnumbered, but they're outclassed."

Leo grinned, Hermes cabin were tricksters, they'd be hard to beat, and there were lots of them, since all the unclaimed demi-gods were thrown in there as well, which Leo still thought was harsh. He thought it even harsher that Hades didn't have a cabin; he'd save complaining about that for another day though. So, Hermes would be hard, Apollo's were fast, and brilliant archers, they'd also have to be watched. Dionysius could be bad vine-wise, but since their side had Demeter, though vines could be nullified. So Dionysius was no threat. Ares were dangerous, preferring to attack head on, so if you got past them, you were alright. Aphrodite's didn't care, unless they were Piper, or the hunters were the opposition. They were no threat at all.

But, Leo's side, or rather Athena's side, had battle strategy and skill to back it up. They had Percy, who in himself was a one man army when he tried his best. Demeter, who could string nasty traps, and Hephaestus, who could do the same... Just better. All in all, Leo's team was more defensive, but, the best offence is a good defence. If Demeter and Hephaestus could hold up Apollo, Hermes and Ares long enough for Annabeth to get the flag with her invisibility hat, then they were home free.

* * *

Before too long, well after Leo had to sit through tea, sending glares at the Stolls all the way through, so he still might hold a bit of a grudge for the bench thing. Then they were armoured up and in the forest. Leo grinned, he had spent his time in the forge that morning making armour that actually fitted him, so he didn't feel like Percy looked, a mouse in an elephant's armour. Thought that could be a slight exaggeration. More like ten year old Nico in Beckendorf's armour.

"Having fun Percy?"

"Oh Haha, very funny, It's not my fault nothing fit's me!"

Leo grinned at the sarcasm, "You're a better fighter with less armour anyway, heck, you fought Ares with no armour, and won, at least, didn't get killed, and wounded him."

"True." Percy yanked of the helmet, and grinned, "I'm going in armour less."

Leo saw Beckendorf frowning out of the corner of his eye, as he came toward the two. "Are you sure you don't want armour Percy? It could put you at a disadvantage not having it."

"I'm sure man; I'm at a disadvantage wearing it!"

Beckendorf snorted. "Got that right."

Then Annabeth was telling them all where to go, and situating Percy on the creek, with instruction to stop anyone crossing by trapping them in it, or creating a wall of water. Leo was sent to attack, which surprised him as Hephaestus cabin was normally on defence. According to Annabeth, Leo was a right sneaky brat when he wanted to be. Leo didn't know whether to be insulted or complemented.

Leo was sneaking through the undergrowth; he had already passed a Ares sentry, a Hermes sentry and an Apollo sentry. He thought he was home free, until he heard a noise behind him, and turned to see an Aphrodite girl. In fact he thought it was Silena.

"Schist! Um would you mind letting me through?"

"Why should I do that?"

"Because you owe me for the bench thing."

Leo saw Silena frown, then step to the side, Two minutes then I'm screaming that someone's here. Got it?"

"How do I know you won't scream immediately?"

"Beautiful people never lie Valdez." Leo grinned and ran, in that moment Silena had seemed so much like Piper, you could defiantly tell they were sisters. His smile dropped as he got closer to the flag, and kept an eye out for traps. He missed Piper. She was like his sister, and being at camp without her felt kind of weird.

Leo froze, as he reached the clearing with the Hermes flag in. He could hear breathing that wasn't his own, and glanced around. No-one. He took a wild guess and glanced up. Score! The Stolls sat in two trees opposite one another, their eyes trained of the flag, and occasionally the surrounding woodland. He had been right to assume that most of the opposite team would be attacking. Leo didn't relax though. There could still be traps.

Leo felt out with the sixth sense he had for mechanics. There was a clip of metal 3 feet away from the flag there, and there. Leo barely stopped himself gasping, Mines! Actually why was he surprised? This was the Ares cabin after all. All he had to do was avoid them. But first, he had to take out the Stolls. How would he do that?

Then Leo saw a flash of blue on the other side of the clearing. Another attacker and it looked like Conner had seen them too. He nodded to Travis who dropped down to face the attacker. The four attackers Leo corrected himself. Travis was clearly outmatched, and Conner dropped from his tree and ran to help. While the two were distracted Leo made a silent dash for the flag, nimbly avoiding all the Mines.

As he picked up the flag and turned, a scream echoed from the way he had come, two minutes were obviously up. Travis turned to the scream, and saw Leo making off with the flag. One of the Athena campers knocked him out before he could raise the alarm. Did that count as maiming?

Conner shouted instead, and Leo dogged of through the trees, he had an advantage. Due to his adventures with Festus, he knew the forest better than almost anyone. He knew where to hide so he wouldn't be caught. He grinned, and kept running, still silently. He was good at running, always had been.

He almost made it too. Twenty feet before the creek, where he could see Percy grinning at him, he saw a group of Apollo campers waiting for him, swerving left; he saw a group of Hermes campers, advancing on him. He had been too worried about someone following him to think about an ambush. He saw Nyssa standing behind the Apollo campers. A mad idea grew in his head.

Leo jumped high, yelled his sisters name and lobed the flag over the Apollo kids heads. Nyssa jumped, caught it, and hightailed to the creek, the Apollo and Hermes cabins hot on her trail. Percy willed the creak to rise, and splashed it on the campers, disorientating them, as Nyssa made it safely across what remained of the stream. Chiron's horn blew, and the game was won.

**AN: Do you like it, Please drop me a review! I know the chapters kinda short, but I wanted to get this bit up, and the next bit wouldn't fit in the same chapter, unless I wanted a monster chapter, and I don't. Chapter 1 was the odd one out. I figured you'd rather have two shorter updates sooner, that a long one, which could take a fortnight to upload. **

** So here's the next chapter, and the next one will probably be up Friday or Saturday. **

**Question time: (This is a hard one)**

_**What **__**type**__** of poison did Luke use on Thalia's tree? (Name of the poison please)**_


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey guys, I caught some of you out on the last question! *Snicker***

**A pit scorpion was what Luke set on Percy at the end of the lightning thief; it was Elder Python Venom that he used on Thalia's tree. So... Bookworm1235 won. I'm not sure if I should let it count seeing as you weren't logged in... Meh, I'm feeling nice. Please review who you want in my story! **

** Piper or Hazel huh? Well, Ok- I'll try. It won't be for a few chapters though, so hold on for that. And... I was going to add Festus anyway guys, but, since so many of you want him... Keep a look out for him... He might appear sooner or later...**

** Percebeth Jackson-Chase, Paul? Wow, um, OK, I'll try to work him in somehow, again, won't be this chapter, but he will appear, never fear. Ohhh, Rhyme!**

** Disclaimer: Anything you recognise belongs to the awesome Ricky Riodan **

** Thanks for the explanation of duct tape! Cello tape is like clear sticky tape that you wrap birthday presents with. Google it! I should have done that for duct tape...**

** The spider in this chapter isn't the same one from Lord of the Rings; I just had Leo nick the name, OK?**

**Here we go, please review.**

* * *

Chapter 4: In Which Leo gets lost...

Leo had been congratulated by everyone on his throw, even the Hermes cabin, who, while they were a bit mad for losing the flag, could accept that he won fairly. Leo had even got an "Alright throw, Punk," from Clarisse, which made people look at him like he'd done the impossible. Perhaps he had, as far as he knew Clarisse never complemented anyone, but the time traveller couldn't talk about abnormal.

The next day, the Hephaestus cabin explained all the modifications on the Hephaestus cabin, some of which he hadn't even known about in the future. The tunnels under the cabin also intrigued him, and he was sure that one of them lead to Bunker nine, only question was which one. He was planning on exploring them sometime. Like as soon as his siblings stopped stalking him!

Seriously, he appreciated their care, honestly, but it was starting to seem like he couldn't even go to the loo without a bodyguard. His siblings weren't particularly good at being subtle. Seems that was one thing they all got from their father- a disability to deal with organic life forms.

On the plus side, Leo's battle training was finally kicking off. Leo had spent last week training with the Hermes cabin. Due to the number in their however, it meant that Leo hadn't really done much. Now he was in his dad's cabin, and the Hephaestus cabin were doing sword training today. Leo's preferred weapon was a flaming hammer, but he was alright with a sword, at least he could hold his own (though he could never beat Percy). He would have to make a load of mistakes though. There was no way he would be able to do what he had done in the future on his first time, it would attract too much suspicion. He knew that should he stand out too much, Luke would tell Kronos, and being on the Titans lord's 'to watch' list, was not on his own 'to do' list.

So, as the cabin trooped toward the arena, Leo felt his apprehension grow, if only by a little. He need not have worried though. When they reached the arena, the Ares cabin was still in it, practicing, and after a brief argument with Clarisse, Beckendorf returned with a scowl, and the news that they would be going to the climbing wall instead.

Leo grinned; he hadn't been on the firewall yet, at least not this time at camp. He couldn't help but want to get to it. It wasn't so unusual to be good on the climbing wall, so he figured he didn't need to hold back.

Two minutes later, after Beckendorf's lecture of safety, that Leo promptly ignored, he was standing at the bottom of the wall, mental recording the patterns to the lava flow. Beckendorf had slowed the lava flow, as it was his first time. Leo hadn't even known that it was possible to slow it. He took a deep breath, and leapt at the wall. Swing, dodge, grab another handhold, swing again, and lunge. Before he knew it he was at the top, looking down on the astonished faces of his siblings. His manic grin promptly reappearing on his elfish face.

* * *

After the session of climbing, in which it was proved that while Leo might not be as strong as his siblings, he was defiantly more agile. As proved when he challenged Beckendorf to a race when the wall was at full power- he didn't expect that the burns his brother had would be going away anytime soon.

As the siblings returned to their cabin after lunch, from which Leo had snagged a couple of snacks. He needed them. He was planning on exploring the tunnels, and he needed something to eat if he got lost. He hoped that he wouldn't get too far lost, but hey, this was him. Poster boy for Murphy's Law. If it was possible to get hopelessly lost down there, as Leo was sure it was, then chances were he would get hopelessly lost.

He made his excuses, and his cabin mates all left for the forge, Nyssa sending him a worried glance; though his smile seemed to sooth her worry. As soon as they were out of sight, Leo jumped onto his bed, and pressed the descend button. His bed began to slowly sink into the floor bellow it, and it creaked some as it descended. Leo made a mental note to check out the mechanism of the bed. Maybe it needed a little oiling.

Then he was in the private room, with pale blue walls, and very little else. Leo grimaced as he looked around. This room reminded him to much of the ones in foster care. He needed to sort that. He reached for his tool belt, then realised he didn't have it yet. Another reason for him to find bunker 9.

Leo tapped Morse code onto the wall directly opposite the bed, a way of getting into the tunnels. He knew this from his future time at camp, when Harley had discovered it by accident, and had blurted it all out to Leo the next day.

Grinning, Leo set of down the tunnels, tying one of the balls of wool he had nicked from crafts around the bed, and forgetting to shut the door. He didn't notice the wool strain against the bed as he pulled it tight, and when he turned away, it hit the up button, the bed once more rising to join all the others in the cabin.

Before he had reached the end of the tunnels he already knew about, Leo's first ball of wool began to run out, and he paused to attach the second, and then continued on his way. He passed the underground armoury, but paused at the amount of dust on the door. Was it possible that the Hephaestus cabin hadn't found it in this time? He shoved the door open, coughing at the dust. It was still full! Leo laughed- his first discovered room (disregarding the fact he had known about it in the future). Then movement in the corner made him freeze, and a dark shape loomed out of the corner.

"Holy Hephaestus!" Coming out of the shadows was the biggest spider Leo had ever seen, and he had seen a lot of spiders. Leo backed up, he didn't particularly like spiders. He wasn't scared of them or anything, he had seen much worse things, but seeing one of his best friends dragged into Tartarus by the mother of spiders... Didn't really endear the species to him.

Leo heard the spider's pinchers clipping, almost like there was a rhythm to it. Leo listened more intently, could it possibly be?

.-. .-.. . .- ... . / -.. - -. .-. - / -.- .. .-.. .-.. / - .

It was! The freaking spider was speaking in Morse code! Well, since the spider wasn't attacking, Leo figured he should at least give it a chance, after all, this was her? His? The spiders home as well.

"I won't kill you, if you wouldn't mind not killing me. Is there a reason you are here, or is it just your home." Leo didn't really know much about homes. He had left his only home after his mom died, and though camp sort of became his home, he had to leave it before he could get too attached. Maybe this time round he would be able to call camp home, and mean it.

Leo listened intently to the spider's story, told as briefly as possible in dots and dashes. By the end he had to sit down, the story was almost impossible to believe, but the spider had sworn on the river Styx. Leo frowned as a thought occurred to him. In his time there was no spider guarding the armoury. In his time, there was no spider at all. No the future, not his time. This was his time now. But his siblings wouldn't have known about the spider set by the Hephaestus kids of the 1800's, they would have called her a monster and killed her.

Leo was glad that hadn't happened this time. A thought occurred to him, "Do you have a name?"

-.-

"Then do you mind me giving you one?"

-.-

"Shelob, after one of the greatest spiders in the literacy world!" Yes, Leo had read Lord of the Rings, once Annabeth had found out that he never got chance to, she ordered a Greek copy, and tied his legs to a chair in an empty room, with the book in front of him. He had no choice but read it- if he wanted his tool belt back. Leo was presently surprised at how much he actually liked it. Though he figured that Annabeth was regretting making him read it after his tenth "One does not simply walk into..." jokes. The stink eyes he got for his "one does not simply walk into the roman camp" really gave him chills.

Leo stood up, ready to keep exploring the tunnels. "Shelob, would you like to come with me? I'm trying to find a tunnel to bunker nine..."

.. / -.-. .- -. / .-.. . .- -.. / -.- - ..- / - ... . .-. . / ... .. .-.

"You can lead me there? That's great! But please, don't call me sir, my names Leo."

After a brief argument with Shelob over what she should call him, with her resolutely ignoring his commands to just call him Leo, and settling on Master Leo, which was even worse than sir, in Leo's opinion. The two set off down the tunnel, Leo following Shelob, with an irritated scowl on his face. He hated loosing arguments. Though he should be used to it by now. After all, no-one ever won an argument with Annabeth (except Percy).

The tunnels got more dusty and cobweb-y the further the two journeyed down them, and Shelob paused to explain that as she was the only one in them for many years, she couldn't do much but weave webs. Leo was getting a little tired of the boring walls though. The most exciting parts were the cave-ins, which Shelob cleared with almost no difficulty. If Leo had managed to get this far on his own, he would have been forced to go back by the cave ins, but Shelob got rid of that obstacle.

Leo kept winding his wool though, it wasn't that he didn't trust Shelob (though he didn't completely), just he wanted an alternate way back; should Shelob wish to stay in the bunker. Leo was too busy winding that he didn't look where he was going, and tripped over a rock in the floor. Shelob paused, and then scuttled up the wall, and over, so she was facing him. She picked him up, gently with one of her giant pinchers, and placed him on her back, moving around so she was once again facing forward. Then she rushed off, at a speed that a cheater would find hard to match.

Before too long had passed, Shelob stopped before a solid wall, and slid him off to stand in front of her.

- - ..- -.-. ... / .. - -..- / - .- ... - . .-.

Leo stuck his hand out, as per Shelob's instruction, and placed it palm up on the stone, which rolled away to one side, and revealed the back of bunker nine. Leo laughed and ran in, followed by Shelob, who was chattering excitedly, as she sped to a massive spider's web in the corner, which Leo guiltily remembered, he had burnt in the future.

Leo however ran to the workbench that he had claimed was 'his'. The tool belt was just there, as it had been the first time, and he put it on with glee, smiling as he wiped the dust off the bench. Leo looked up to see Festus's wings, and made a mental note to find the dragon someday soon. Leo pulled out the draw in front of the desk- expecting it to be empty.

It wasn't, his gasp made Shelob come scuttling, but he waved her off with a grin. His blueprints! All the designs he left at Yancy- they were here. Leo pulled them out, and scattered them over his bench, noticing a sheet of paper that didn't have his handwriting on.

'Careful where you leave these, Son'

Leo gulped, not his writing, not Chaos's. He had finally gotten a message from his father.

**Haha bet you weren't expecting that!**

**Here's the next question...**

_**Can you name three satyrs (or fawns)? But Grover is not allowed!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey guys, I will be updating my other stories, but I'm on a roll with this one at the minute. So, the winner of the last question was Silvanyx5, have cookies, and please review what character you would like. (::) (::) (::) (::)! **

**There will be a brief scene from Olympus showing Hephaestus's thoughts after he contacted Leo, and the thoughts of the goddess who suggested it. **

**Lynett277VadlezJackson – Valdez and Jackson? You greedy person! **

**Piper! Ok, since two people have told me to put her in, I will do a chapter in which she features in Leo's memories, and I will bring her into the story as a character before I said I would. I'm thinking that Leo goes to a school, and she just so happens to go there too. Then they both get expelled for the same thing... How's that? I can also put Paul in that chapter, so hold up guys, I promise that your people will be in the story, but it won't be for a few chapters. **

**I hate having to yell at people, and I've had a great time on so far, but reviews like I had on the last chapter of Change through flame are not on. You know who you are! Ok? I am fourteen; I do not appreciate comments like those that were given there. And if you are going to put comments like that, don't be a coward and do it anonymously- It just makes you look like an idiot. Do it logged in- then I can rant at you in PM and not upset my other, less dirty minded reviewers. **

** That being said, thanks to all those lovely people who give me positive reviews, and all my loyal followers! I love you guys so much! (In a totally friend way). I've got 65 reviews in four chapters. Thank- you! (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)**

**I'm glad you like the idea of a good giant spider... Have fun waiting for the scene where Leo introduced Shelob to Annabeth... **

**Janazza- I don't know a Carl the satyr- maybe you read about him in a fanfic... I will be explaining the note a little more in this chapter. **

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, and will continue to own nothing. I don't even own the name of the giant spider!**_

* * *

Chapter 5: In which Leo introduces his new friend...

* * *

Leo gulped. He had been nervous about contact with his father, partly because he still didn't know where he stood in regards to him. He must have known about Leo's 'gift' and how he had caused his mom's death - did he hate him? The action of returning his blueprints seemed to indicate otherwise; but Leo wasn't sure anymore. In the future, Hephaestus had told him that he was proud of him, and that had meant the world to him. But how would he be proud when Leo hadn't done anything.

It was well known in the future that Beckendorf was Hephaestus's favourite, and Leo had never though himself up to par with Beckendorf. He didn't resent him at all- Beckendorf was his older brother, and though he had known him only a little more than a day, he still really liked him, though Leo was hesitant to admit he loved his brother. People he loved ended up dead.

So Leo could handle Beckendorf being better than him; what he couldn't handle was the uncertainty of knowing whether or not Hephaestus cared for him. He didn't hate him, or else he would never have returned the blueprints. He guessed that Hephaestus was giving him a chance to prove himself. Leo leant forward again, realising he had been stood stock still for minutes, and eyed the first blueprint. He was going to make his father proud!

* * *

**Change in P.O.V.**

"He's not moving. Why isn't he moving?" The aforementioned father leant further over the sheet of celestial bronze that showed his son. Yes he was breaking a couple of laws doing this, but as he rarely broke them, Zeus would probably let him off.

"Hephaestus, calm down, he is simply in shock."

"Why Hestia? It's just a note." Hephaestus's gruff voice replied, "Not like it's an automaton that I sent. Then he would have reason to be shocked."

"It's his first contact he's ever had with you, nephew, he's going to be a little shocked."

"Humph!"

Hestia giggled, it's not like the poor boy knew that his father had been watching over him since birth, that he had know immediately that something was different about this son. Though he hadn't realised till 'Tia' had dumped him in the fireplace what that special thing was. In fact the poor boy was probably worried about what his father thought about the fire incident during which his mother passed away.

That had been one of the few days that neither Hephaestus nor herself had been watching, and so neither of them had seen how it actually happened, a fact that Hephaestus had been kicking himself over since. He didn't do well with organic life forms, but he cared and watched over every single one of his children. That was why Hestia got on so well with him; that and she too was interested in Leo Valdez. He was a child of fire, and he had a habit of spreading humour and hope, a habit she admired. She was just what she would want in a son- if it were possible for her to have one.

She was so close, when she found out that Esperanza Valdez had died, to claiming Leo as her own. To raising him herself- but she knew that Zeus would never allow it. She had no wish to start a quarrel on Olympus. Instead she just guided him every time he ran, turning him away from those who would wish him serious harm. Hephaestus was forbidden by the ancient laws to help his son. She wasn't.

She giggled again at the relived look on Hephaestus's face when Leo came to himself and bent forward over his workbench, a determined gleam in his eye. Not unlike the one she sometimes sees in his fathers. The image dissipated and Hestia transported to the fire at camp. Maybe this time someone would talk to her.

* * *

**Nyssa's P.O.V.**

Nyssa was standing behind her workbench in the forge. Her finished cross-bow lay on the surface in front of her, and she grinned proudly. It had taken a while for her to make it; she had to restart several times. She just couldn't get the grip right. Now she had and she was considering helping someone else with what they were doing. Leo has said that he would need help with what he was working on. It seemed like he was making a sentient table. Nyssa didn't understand why, but Leo was a bit weird, so if he thought he needed a table that could walk away on its own, she had no problem helping him.

"Leo, do you need help with..." Nyssa looked up, Beckendorf was working in the corner, Jake was hammering his axe, and Chris and Shane were conspiring on something that had them smiling wickedly, and she really didn't want to know...

"Leo?" Leo was nowhere to be seen, she vaguely remembered him telling her he would be a bit late to the forge, and she assumed he was talking to Percy, but he should have been there by now. She shouted a little louder, "Hey guys, has anyone seen Leo?"

Jake's hammering stopped. He looked round "Leo? Isn't he here yet?"

"Evidently not!" Nyssa sighed "sorry Jake, I'm still kind of worried for him."

Beckendorf stopped as well and the other two looked up, "We're all worried for Leo Nyssa, but if we push him, he'll shut us out." Beckendorf blinked, seemingly confused at his own profoundness.

"I get that, but, he hasn't turned up and..." Nyssa paled as a thought struck her. "When we were explaining the tunnels... Did any of you think Leo took a little too much interest?"

Jake frowned. "If he went exploring and got lost- who knows what could be in the unexplored tunnels. Leo could get attacked!"

Chris and Shane exchanged looks and stood up, "Come on then, if he's lost down there, then it's our duty as siblings to go find him!"

Nyssa smiled, how was it that Leo had only been in the cabin a day and a half, yet he could make them act more like a family than they had for years?

"Ok guys," Beckendorf stood up, "time for a little rescue mission."

It didn't take long for the five to reach the cabin, but they gained a few looks along the way, it was unusual to see one of the Hephaestus kids outside the forge when they didn't have to be, to see all five hurrying towards the cabin caused quite a stir. Nyssa saw Annabeth, the Athena kid, narrow her eyes then gasp- seemed that she had realised that Leo wasn't with them.

Before Nyssa had time to worry about whether Annabeth would cause a fuss, she was inside the cabin, following her four brothers. "Leo. Leo? You in here?"

The cabin was deserted, and so the five made their way to the stairs cleverly hid at the back of the cabin, the ones that lead to the tunnels. The clever thing about the stairs was that they only appeared when you pressed a hidden button, and the movement sensors installed in them meant that they would stay there as long as someone had gone down the tunnels, and mould back into the wall when the person came back up. Only problem was, they weren't down.

"I don't get it," Shane turned to Beckendorf, "I thought that they stayed out when someone was down the tunnels."

"They do, unless Leo found another way down." Everyone turned to look at Jake who was sitting on Leo's bed, his eyes on the wool that was tied to the bedpost, and that lead through the floor. He looked up, his eyes devoid of the laughter that had been there just ten minutes ago. "If each of the rooms below is connected to the tunnels, as we thought before, then Leo could have found a way from his room into the tunnels, without using the stairs."

Nyssa frowned and jumped on the bed, pressing the down button, and the bed, with her and Jake on it began to sink through the floor. They reached the room below and, after sending the bed back up, noticed the door in the wall, with a pink line of wool entering it, and blackness behind it.

"Whoa," Nyssa jumped at Chris's exclamation, she hadn't noticed the other three arrive. Beckendorf was holding a torch, and Nyssa grinned at his preparation, he was always ready for anything. She didn't blame him; after the way his mom died... He didn't want to be caught off guard again. Shane walked over to the door, but Beckendorf pulled him back, and took the lead himself. Nyssa rolled her eyes at the stereotypical big brother action, and then followed Beckendorf into the darkness of the tunnel- the torch following the wool along the floor.

Nyssa was relieved that Leo had enough sense to put wool along the floor. This way, if he, or they, got lost, they could just follow the wool back to Leo's room. It did remind her of the story of Theseus in the labyrinth though, and he didn't exactly have a monster-free experience. Nyssa shivered, and Jake put his hand on her shoulder as they hurried along. She sent him a grateful glance, and they continued to run, pausing every so often for a rest, and so Shane could catch up.

They passed a slightly open door, and Nyssa could see weapons behind it, Jake stopped and peered in. "Holy..."

Beckendorf stopped, and came back, "Jake?"

"It's a whole freaking armoury!"

That made Beckendorf pause, and he too entered the room, Nyssa gave a glance up the tunnel- Leo was far more important than an underground armoury; But, Beckendorf had the only torch. She too entered the room, and then gave a gasp. The whole room, equal in size to the Zeus cabin, was full with weapons, covered in dust. Beckendorf grabbed a sword, signalling the others to take weapons as well, then he ushered them out of the room, and back to the wool trail.

Nyssa fingered her knife, if they found Leo hurt, or... If a monster had done something to him, then she would take great delight in gutting it. Maybe children of Hephaestus weren't often fighters, but for Zeus's sake, if someone had even dared to lay a hand on her little brother... So what if he was only a year younger- she still wasn't going to let anyone near him.

The path was getting a little more cobweb-y and Shane was slowing down; he couldn't run as fast as the others, and he was lagging. Beckendorf stopped for a rest, and the others stopped as well, they hadn't talked much, just a few exclamations about the rooms they had passed, but as the wool went on past them, it was obvious that Leo wasn't in any of them. They had already passed about four fall ins- some were incredibly thick, and Nyssa couldn't work out how Leo had managed to clear them.

Shane was puffing hard now, and Nyssa regarded him with pity, it was probably hard on him doing all this running. Beckendorf seemed to think the same thing, and picked him up, much to his protest. They began running again, at a slightly reduced pace, with Shane holding the torch. By now the wool had changed colour at least ten times, and Nyssa was wondering how much wool Leo had!

It had been about four hours since they had entered, Nyssa reckoned. She wondered if Chiron was worried yet- an entire cabin had disappeared- that would be hard to explain to Olympus. "_What do you mean you __**lost**__ the Hephaestus cabin?" _Nyssa snorted, Leo's humour must be catching. But as long as she didn't get a mad urge to go pranking with the Stolls, she didn't particularly mind.

Eventually they reached the end of the tunnel, and paused in front of the door, hearing noises from inside, Beckendorf handed Shane over to Jake: then raised his sword, and entered the room, closely followed by the others, who subconsciously make a semicircle around Jake and Shane, protecting the youngest.

Nyssa glanced around the room; more warehouses sized really- a big warehouse. She saw workbenches and tools scattered around- most covered in dust. It looked like a massive forge- better than the camp one. Apart from the cobwebs everywhere. There was a sound coming from the other end of the massive room. Leo's voice- humming Star Wars. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw him stand up from behind a workbench and frown at the contraption in his hands. He seemed to be fine, which relieved her worry, but made her annoyed instead. Yeah he wanted to explore, but really- they must be miles away from the cabin by now- he should at least have told them what he was doing, or ask one of them to come with him! He had only half a day of training for Olympus's sake!

Her attention was drawn away from Leo, when Chris jumped, peering into the darkness, and his sword clattered to the floor. Nyssa jumped, and hurled her knife at the lumpy shape she could see in the darkness, it looked kind of like a massive spider.

Unfortunately, said massive spider managed to dodge, though it retreated further. Nyssa frowned- shouldn't it be attacking by now?

* * *

**Back to good old Leo's P.O.V.**

Leo didn't know how long he'd been in the bunker, and he didn't particularly care. He realised that he should get back before his siblings began to worry, but they probably already had by now, and it felt so good to be in the bunker again.

He had started on one of the blueprints for Buddfetta. He had promised future Buford that He'd make a friend for him- a girlfriend. He might get little tables running around... Yeah, that was a mental image he didn't need. He shuddered, and proceeded to drop Buddfetta's right leg. He dropped to the ground and crawled under his workbench, absentmindedly humming the theme song for Star wars, yeah it was made years ago- but it was such a good story line! So much better than Star Trek.

He got up, not bothered by the dust all down his legs, and placed the part back on the table- freezing as he heard the clatter of a dropped weapon come from the end of the bunker. What the Hades?

Then he started, had he left the door in his room open? Darn it, what if his siblings had followed him and spotted Shelob!

Leo raced up the bunker and stopped just in time to see Nyssa lob her knife at Shelob, who managed to twist away just in time. Leo grabbed the knife and managed to jump in front of Shelob just in time to block Beckendorf's blow that would have cut her head right off. Shelob cowered behind Leo, shivering and tapping frantically. Leo mentally translated her Morse code.

"_Stop, please, don't hurt me, please!" _

Leo sighed, and ignoring Beckendorf's baffled look, reached a hand behind him to rest on Shelob's shaking head. "It's ok Shelob; I promise I won't let you get hurt."

Leo waited until her tremors had stopped before he dropped his hand from her head, and turned to face his siblings. All five of them were looking at him as if he was mad. He was, slightly, but that was a different matter.

"Ok guys, I know this might be hard to believe, but Shelob isn't going to hurt you. She was hidden in the tunnels by Hephaestus kids in the 1800's and she's been down here guarding the armoury since. When I found the armoury, I asked her if there was an underground forge anywhere, and she brought me here. I swear, she won't hurt you."

Beckendorf stepped forward raising his sword, "It's a monster Leo, and it's tricking you."

"She, Is my friend, and she has already sworn on the Styx she mean's no harm to anyone. Except those who attack Hephaestus's children. She was a gift from dad, to the Hephaestus kids in the past, and she's still only going to protect us. Please, don't hurt her."

"Leo" He turned to Nyssa, who had spoken, "How could the spider possibly have sworn on the Styx- It's a spider!"

"Who speaks in Morse code?" Leo turned shocked eyes on Shane, who had spoken, and his gaze was matched by Beckendorf and Nyssa. Jake and Chris just looked baffled. "How did you know that?" Leo asked.

"My step-dad teaches me Morse code, he's in the army. I could hear her, asking us not to kill her. Is she really a good monster?"

Leo was delighted; He had no idea that Shane knew Morse code. "You bet, in fact, I swear on the Styx she's good." Leo raised challenging eyes to Beckendorf as it became obvious he wasn't going to self-combust, and Beckendorf had the good grace to look ashamed, though he still looked horrified when Shane rushed passed him, and awkwardly hugged Shelob' s front legs.

Leo couldn't stop laughing at Beckendorf's face as Shelob pranced around the bunker, Shane giggling hysterically on her back.

* * *

**Please review!**

**Next question: **

_**Can you name a Pegasus other than Blackjack and Scipio? **_


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey guys, just to say- this will be the last update for about 10 days, because I'm going to a camp which may/may not have wifi, but I'm not allowed to take my laptop-so I will be physically unable to update- SORRY!**

**The winner was MaHal1337 congratulations, and review who you want to be in the story... (::) (::) (::) (::)! Since I don't have a clue about Halo (other than that angels wear them) I didn't review, have donuts instead! (0) (0) (0) (0)**

** More Hephaestus or Hestia? OK then... **

** I apologise for time zones, unfortunately I don't have the authority to do anything about them- I suggest you plead to Zeus.**

** Peanut butter the Pegasus- unfortunately not. **

** Just been on half-blood wiki serching Buford, I couldn't take it seriously when I looked at species... Species: Table. I laughed for about an hour. This species is divided into two parts, the hardwood table and the softwood table. Types include the Oak table, the beech table, and of course the Mahogany table! **_**That is Mahogany!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot, and not much of that either. **_

Chapter 6: In which camp has gone mad...

The Hephaestus cabin were in awe of bunker nine, and Leo tried not to laugh as all five of his siblings acted like five year-olds who had just been shown a house made entirely of candy. Shane could be forgiven, but when Beckendorf actually squealed over the machinery... Well, Leo could be excused for rolling on the floor laughing. Anyone in his position would be.

Jake had already claimed a bench as 'his' and had started assembling something based on a blueprint he had found in one of the draws. Leo thought it might be the blueprint of the mini-bombs that the Hephaestus cabin had made in bulk during the war with Gaia. While they were freaking complicated to make, being the size of a marble; Leo had memorised the method. A getaway bomb was always handy. He could make one in a minute, with his hands tied behind his back- and unfortunately, that had been proven.

Leo grinned at his family running all around the bunker, and the exclamations they were making.

"Holy Hephaestus! You have got to see this!"

Everyone turned to look at Chris, who had stuck his head though the padlocked door he had been working on opening for the past ten minutes, "I'm dreaming... No, I've died, and am now in Elysium. This is..."

Leo grinned, and watched as the others crowded round Chris to peer through the door too. Chris had found the H.C.E, short for Hephaestus camper's Elysium. It was a long warehouse shaped cave, full to the brim with Celestial bronze, jewels, rare parts, cogs, and everything anyone would need to make anything. Right now it looked like his siblings were all about to faint. Then there was a mad rush, as everyone claimed a bench and a blueprint from the stacks in the draws and along the sides, and settled down to make whatever it was that had caught their fancy- lack of materials no longer an issue.

Leo laughed at his siblings again, then returned to his bench, and resumed building Buddfetta. It was going to be a long project he knew- especially as he was planning to make her sentient. Right now he was just assembling the parts he would need to make her. Before he even started constructing her. He would need to take time on each piece. He was not going to rush her. She would be perfect!

Leo placed all the cogs needed on the table, then frowned as he caught one that was rolling of. Before he could even begin, he would need to make a stable box of some sort to store all the components. It would be just like him to get to the last stage and realise he didn't have the last screw, and then it would all fall apart.

That was the secret. Buford looked like an ordinary table, but he was in fact made of almost complete metal, with a wood coating, and Buford had been so mad when he realised Leo knew he wasn't completely wood, it had almost caused a massive disaster, but luckily Buford had calmed down enough for Leo to explain that he liked him just as much, even if he wasn't all wood, and this way meant that if He got burnt, he could be fixed, and wouldn't burn completely to ash. Strangely Buford like the- not burning completely to ash option- and the crisis was averted. Man, Buford was one touchy table.

Leo looked up from the blueprint that he realised he had been staring at, when he felt a touch on his shoulder. He looked to the left, and saw Nyssa standing beside him a frown on her face.

"Leo, next time you decide to go exploring, warn us first. There could be all sorts of monsters in the tunnels, and though we know that Shelob is friendly, the others probably won't be. I was so worried Leo, seriously, don't do it again."

Leo grinned, "I can look after myself Nyssa; you don't need to worry. I survived the streets of America, and believe me- they are swarming with monsters. I can handle myself, I promise."

Strangely enough, that didn't seem to relax Nyssa, she just looked even more worried. "How long were you on the streets for?"

Leo froze, why was he slipping so much? Seriously, he shouldn't have said that, Nyssa wasn't going to let it go now. He remembered the conversation he had with future Nyssa about the same topic. That had been really bad, ending with her treating him like he was an invalid, so what if he had gotten on the wrong side of a few gangs. The scars on his back didn't mean anything, he got over it. But he sure as Hades wasn't going to discuss it with this Nyssa; he was pretty sure that four years wouldn't change that much.

"It doesn't matter Nyssa. It was only a couple of months, and nothing bad happened. I was a bit cold, and a bit hungry, but I'm a boy, we're always hungry. So, could you... Just leave it yeah?"

Nyssa looked doubtful, but dropped the subject and made to move back to her bench, then stopped, turned round and grabbed Leo in a hug. Rushing back to her bench with a smile on her face at his bewildered expression.

The work in the bunker went on for hours and hours, no-one worrying about the time at all, at least not till Shane started snoring over his half-finished quiver of arrows. Leo looked up and met Beckendorf's eye. "How long have we been here?"

Beckendorf gave a shrug, and Nyssa gasped, and joined the conversation. "Our entire cabin is missing, Chiron's gonna be worried."

Jake dropped his hammer on his foot and cursed, then hobbled over to where the others were discussing, passing by Chris and Shane's snoring bodies. "No-one but us know about the descending beds right? If someone who isn't a child of Hephaestus tries to lower a bed, what happens?"

"The cabin goes into lockdown and all of the beds refuse to budge, until the all clear button is pressed." They all looked to Beckendorf in surprise, and he shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "I installed a security system when the Stolls came to camp, so what?"

Leo cleared his throat, "So, what do we do, we can't lug these guys back through the tunnels, and Shane won't like being woken up. I vote we all sleep here tonight and walk back in the morning, it's like a three hour trip, if you run all the way, and none of us want to run now."

"Right, but Chiron's probably going to contact Olympus first thing tomorrow, if he hasn't already, so we need to let him know what's going on."

"Sure Nyssa," Jake added, "little problem of how."

Nyssa snarled at him, and Leo grinned- there was the sleep deprived Nyssa that all those working on the Argo two had come to know and fear. "Oh I don't know Jake, a little thing called an Iris message... Ring any bells?"

"Ok, ok, I'm an idiot, no need to get nasty."

Beckendorf brought a spray gun out of one pocket, and a drachma out of the other one. He turned on the spray gun, and flipped the coin into the spray. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please show me Chiron at camp-half blood."

**Percy's P.O.V.**

Percy hadn't been that worried when the Hephaestus cabin had run through camp like they had hellhounds on their trail, Leo had probably just set his bed on fire or something- seems like a thing Leo would do. But when no-one from the Hephaestus cabin turned up at dinner, or at the campfire, something was clearly going on. Hades, even Chiron looked worried, and that didn't happen often. After the campfire, he stood up and said that the Hephaestus campers were neither in their cabin, not the forge, nor anywhere else at camp, and if anyone knew where they were, would they please speak now.

There was an unnatural silence, and you could hear crickets chirping, well you couldn't, but Percy was sure that, had there been crickets there, then it would have been possible to hear them chirping. Then the campfire rose up higher, and a figure walked out from it. Chiron bowed immediately, so the rest of camp, Ares cabin included, much to Percy's surprise, followed his example.

"Lady Hestia, may I ask why you have deigned to visit camp?"

The lady smiled, and looked around the campers, her eyes warm and friendly, "There is no need to bow my friends, I am not here to be worshiped, but to bring news. You asked of those, Hephaestus's children. I assure you they are quite safe, though they will not be back till sometime tomorrow. They have merely..."

The goddess was cut off by an Iris message forming by the fire, a fait voice, Leo's voice, echoed from it, as the vision cleared.

"Dude, why do you even have a spray gun in your pocket? What if it leaks?"

The message showed Beckendorf, Nyssa, Leo, and that other kid... Jake, they all looked pretty tired, and Chris could been seen in the background, slumped against a workbench and out of it completely. Beckendorf grinned at Chiron, then seemed to notice the lady standing beside him, and hastily bowed, followed by the rest of his siblings, at least the awake ones. He almost stuck his head through the Iris message, and the camp began to snicker at his blush when he came back up.

"Um, I hope we didn't worry you, but someone," Beckendorf gave a small glare at Leo, who Pfffed and shrugged it off, Beckendorf rolled his eyes, shocking half the crowd who had never seen Beckendorf do something like that, and continued. "Someone, decided that it would be a good idea to explore the tunnels underneath the Hephaestus cabin, and since that someone, is new, the rest of us were afraid there would be a load of monsters in the unexplored tunnels, and rushed after him."

Leo broke in, "Anyway, getting to the actual important bit, I found this awesome underground forge, called bunker 9, and cus it's so awesome, we kinda lost track of time, so, um, yeah. We're calling so you don't start a search party for us or anything, and we should be back sometime tomorrow." Leo rubbed his neck, as he did when he was embarrassed, and Percy grinned, unconsciously matching Hestia's expression as she popped away. Leo spun around as Chris slipped of his bench and crashed to the floor, and his flailing arm cut through the iris message.

**Next question: **

_**What sort of tree was Thalia turned into?**_

**Just trying to reach 2000 words... **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hey guys, guess who's back!**

**OK, after an awesome week away, I now am ready to post the next chapter of the fic, and for all you amazing guys who read my other fics, they will be updated too, starting with the Narnia/LOtR crossover. **

** Winner of the last question was Bookworm5546, congratulations! (::) (::) (::) (::) Welcome to , as you only arrived on the forth! Have welcome donuts (0) (0) (0) (0) (0)! Please review the character you would like to see! **

** Please remember guys, these storys arn't exactly the same as the books, that means that although I'm kind of writing the second 'book' Luke's deception hasn't been found out yet. That's a-coming. **

** MaHal1337- you havn't given me a character please do so, unless you don't want to, in which case have more donuts (0) (o) (0) (o) **

** You don't use the word Loo in America, really? Ok, I will endeavour to use bathroom or restroom from now on (or toilet). **

** Hello, Guest, feel free to log in next time- you want a powerful Leo, don't worry, he will be *grins***

** Jaydajay! Thank-you for the amazing review, you Sir/Mam, are awesome! And don't worry I have no intention of ever discontinuing this story. **

**Disclaimer: I do not make any money on this, and everything belongs to Rick Riordan. **

**Hey guys, if you like my story, and like Leo, go check out Stormfire76, he/she is an amazing author, with amazing stories about Leo!**

_**Italics mean Morse code!**_

In Which Leo has a Couple of Conversations

After Chris accidently cut through the Iris message, and face planted the floor, waking up in the process, the awake members of the cabin put away their projects, and proceeded to drag some stuffing out of the store cupboard. Beckendorf yanked it into six, and gave one to each of those awake. While Jake dragged his over to the storage door, and proceeded to announce he was guarding it, Leo dragged one of the piles over to Shane, and carefully lifted him of his bench, and onto the make-shift bed; all the while careful not to wake him. When he turned around he saw Nyssa watching him with a soft smile on her face, and Beckendorf with an almost proud look. Leo flushed and immediately flopped down on his own pile of stuffing, curling up in the warmth. Before he knew it, morning had come.

Leo woke to shuffling beside him, and saw Shane sitting up on his bed, a frown on his face as he saw the rest of his siblings asleep. Leo propped himself up on one arm and turned to look at his little brother. His voice came out raspy when he spoke, and it make Shane jump.

"What's up Shane?"

"I need the toilet."

Leo grinned sleepily, It's to the right at the other end of the bunker, there's about four down there, and they all work, just go ahead." Leo flopped down again, and tried to get back to sleep. Impossibly, as Shane was now poking him. Leo rolled over and frowned at him "What's wrong?"

Shane glanced to the other end of the bunker, trying to conceal the fear on his face. It didn't fool Leo; he was a master at masks and hiding his feelings. "Leo, it's kinda dark down there and..."

Leo shrugged of the twinge of annoyance he felt. Shane was only eight, it was perfectly fine for him to be scared of the dark, and Leo couldn't judge him on it. He had been afraid of the dark when he was smaller, but he had to force himself to get over it. It was impossible to remain afraid of the darks on the streets. There were too many things worse than the dark.

Leo unwound himself from the nest he had created in his sleep, and stood up, smiling at Shane. "Well, since I need the toilet too..."

Shane matched his grin, and Leo lead the way to the toilets, squeezing the hand that ended up grasping his own.

When they returned from the toilets, Shane went right back to sleep, but Leo couldn't. After ten minutes of tossing around, he got back up, and made his way over to Shelob's web, wondering if the giant spider was asleep. As he approached he saw eight glowing eyes peering out from the darkness, and he sighed in relief, dropping to sit on the floor in front of Shelob's web.

"Hey Shelob, I didn't wake you did I?"

_ "No master Leo, I am generally a nocturnal creature, so I do not sleep much during the night,"_

"Oh, I knew that. So, what do you think of my siblings?"

_"The older ones seem wary of me, though I can't say I blame them. I am grateful master Leo, that you prevented them from sending me to Tartarus."_

"Tartarus isn't a nice place, I'm not letting any of my friends end up there, giant spider or no."

Shelob sent him what looked like an admiring look, and then continued. _"But the younger one, Shane, he is amusing. I rather enjoy spending time with him." _

I'm glad Shelob, truly, because, I've been told I've got a pretty big destiny, and I don't want my siblings banishing you if I die. I'm glad Shane will be around to look after you if... Something happens." Leo wasn't joking when he said this. Chaos had told him to save people, and stop the war, and he planned on it. If it took his life to stop Gaia, he would gladly give it, and he was beginning to suspect that it would. If he was changing everything, then the war would not end with him as the only survivor, but the only casualty.

"One day Shelob, I'm going to have to introduce you to my friends Percy Annabeth and Grover. On second thoughts, just Percy, Grover's a bit of a scaredy cat, and Annabeth, well..."

_"Is something wrong with this Annabeth master Leo?"_

"She's a daughter of Athena."

_"There is something wrong with this Annabeth then, master Leo"._

Leo laughed at that, but couldn't help picturing the scene in his head. He'd introduce Shelob to Annabeth, and she'd probably start screaming. Then Percy would appear to see why she was screaming, see it was just Shelob, and tell Annabeth she was over-reacting. To which Annabeth would calmly reply, that no, she was not over-reacting, because there was a freaking giant spider in the middle of camp! He might have to do it just for the amusement value, and pay the Stolls to video it or something.

Leo was brought out of his musings by a large hairy head snuggling up to his. He grinned, and rubbed under Shelob's chin, to which she gave a sort of creepy purr. Leo laughed aloud at that, and continued chatting with Shelob until the others woke.

When the other five were up and ready, the six headed back through the tunnels, following the wool trail that Leo had left the day before. They left Shelob in the bunker though, figuring it wouldn't be wise to take her into camp. Especially since the Athena cabin all hated spiders with a passion.

As they followed the trail, Leo behind the others, making sure none of them turned the wrong way, Beckendorf dropped back to walk beside him.

"You alright Leo?"

Leo glanced over, surprised, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Beckendorf smiled. "I saw you with Shane last night, and this morning, you really like him don't you?"

Leo mentally grimaced, that was what this conversation was about then. "He's my little brother, of course I'm gonna look after him." Leo gave a little glare, "Is there a problem with that?"

"No Leo, gods no. I'm really glad that you're settling in alright. After you're nightmare, I was kinda afraid you'd close off. Just stop... Being so friendly."

"Believe me Beckendorf, by the end of the week, you'll wish I had."

**+ 2 days**

"Man, I wish he'd just stop being so friendly!"

Nyssa looked up from her bed with a snort as Beckendorf entered the cabin. "What did Leo do this time?" Then she took another look, "What happened to you?"

"Leo happened. Somehow he became such good friend with the Pegasi that he managed to talk them into doing laps of camp and gave a reward to the Pegasus who hit the most campers with dung!"

Nyssa looked at him shocked for a minute, then burst out laughing. "So that's why you look like... Hahaha"

Beckendorf looked disgruntled, "I'm going to have a shower, if Leo comes in, tell him to start running, or I'll drag him to Clarisse and explain to her whose fault it is her hair is now brown and reeks!"

Not two minutes later, Leo poked his head round the door; he scanned the room, and grinned, waltzing in. Nyssa again looked up from the mass of wires she was trying to unravel. "I would suggest running Leo, Beckendorf threatened to turn you over to Clarisse."

The smile dropped of his face. "That bad?"

"Worse."

"Oh, now might be the best time to practice hiding in plain sight. See you at dinner?" Leo raced back out the cabin, and dived behind a bush, scanning the area. Where could he hide that no-one would notice him? The campfire! No-one ever really paid it much attention, so it was the perfect place.

Leo made a mad dash across the grass, and dropped so close to the flames that if he was anyone else, he'd have gotten burned by the heat. Problem was, there was already someone there.

Leo backed up fast, "Sorry, I didn't mean to get in the way, I'll just go sit at the other side, ummm..." Leo looked back at the camper, who didn't actually look that much like a camper. In fact, she didn't look like a camper at all. "Sorry, who are you?"

The girl turned to face him, smiling warmly, and a tension he didn't know he had, relaxed. She made him feel safe, at home, things he hadn't truly felt since his mom's death. "My name, Leo Valdez, is Hestia."

Leo scrambled to bow, "My lady, I apologise for the disrespect..."He was cut off by a tinkering giggle, and looked up to see it was Hestia's.

"There's no need to apologise Leo, I don't mind. Please, call me Hestia."

"If you insist my... Hestia"

"Your Hestia?"

Leo blushed as red as the flames behind him, and stuttered, "I didn't mean it like that, I..."

The tinkering laugh sounded again, and Hestia grinned at him mischievously. She looked a lot like the Stolls when she did that. "I was just joking Leo, I think I'm a little old for you."

Leo grinned, two could play at that game. He made a point of looking at the childlike body she was in, around eight years old. "I don't know, I think you might be a little young. I could set you up with my little brother Shane, if you like."

Hestia was still laughing when the shell sounded for dinner, but as Leo rose to leave, she looked sad again. Leo frowned, "are you alright lady... um Hestia?"

"Oh, I'm fine; this was just one of the most exciting conversations I've had in a while. Not many people notice me you see."

Leo frowned, he knew how it felt to be not noticed, "Well, if you want to talk tomorrow, I'll be here after lunch, reaping my well earned benefit of free time after winning capture the flag. I'm sure we can schedule an appointment."

Hestia nodded and sent him a grateful smile, waving as he walked off to dinner, and he heard her giggling when he had to run to avoid a dozen angry campers. How was it his fault if the Pegasi suddenly developed a bowel problem?

**Next question: **

_**What was the name of the god who Hazel, Nico and Frank find in Venice? **_


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hey guys, welcome to the next chapter. I'd like to thank all you wonderful reviewers.**

**Disclaimer: Simply, if you recognise it, I don't own it. **

**I'm sorry for the incorrect grammar. Using the wrong to... Please forgive me as i repent of my grievous error, and I have corrected it now, I swear. **

**Awesome as Annabeth won the last question. Triptolemus was the correct answer. Review the character you want, and have cookies (::) (::) (::) (::). While reading a story of yours, I came across an idea. **

** I am going to ask you questions about yourself (nothing too personal) You don't have to answer, but it will be nice to hear from you guys!**

**1: Who's your fave PJO character (other than Leo)?**

**2: Whats your fave book series, other that PJO?**

**3: Should I write longer chapters with longer between updates, or stay as I am now?**

**Somehow, I always manage to bring it back to me. *sigh* **

**A guest asked if I was still going to let Percy know about Leo's past with Gaia before the end of the lightning thief arc. I'm changing that. I'm sorry I'm an evil person, but it just doesn't fit with the plot anymore. I will let him know eventually though. I just feel I need to get rid of the titans first before Mrs Evil earth. He will know that Leo is a time traveller in the Sea of monsters arc though. **

**The things I say about forging in this chapter are purely imagination, and I have no idea if any of this would work in real life. Just saying. HERE WE GO!**

In Which Leo makes a decision:

The summer went way too quickly for Leo's liking, and before he knew it, there was a form by the side of his bed, asking whether or not he was staying all year round. Leo frowned at the form, a facial expression he rarely wore. It should have been an easy choice, everything he had was at camp- but he couldn't help but think that he'd go crazy here. Well crazier. He loved camp and all, but he had always run when he stayed there too long, Yancy a perfect example. He didn't want to run from camp, and he loved his family to bits, but... He couldn't cope with them all the time. The summer had been wonderful, but he felt kinda like they were smothering him since his nightmare, and he needed space. Like, outside camp space.

Leo sighed at the form, ignoring the enquiring look sent his way by Shane. He slipped outside; maybe if he walked around a little, he could clear his head. He came across Clarisse, sharpening her new spear by the campfire, a campfire, which was, for once, void of Hestia. He didn't know how many conversations with her it had taken to get him to drop the lady, but he called her Hestia now no problem. Maybe it was around the time he stopped seeing her as a goddess, and began to see her as a friend.

He dropped down next to Clarisse anyway, paying no mind to her suspicious look, and sighed again. Clarisse spoke, making him jump. "I ain't an agony aunt Valdez, if you're going to complain, shut your mouth, or I'll run you through."

Leo eyed her spear, "Not complaining. No complaining here, none at all. No reason to run me through..."

"There will be if you don't shut your mouth."

Leo shut his mouth. He pulled some wires out of his belt, and began to build something, not really noticing what he was doing as he stared absentmindedly across camp. He'd miss it if he went, sure, and wouldn't he be more use at camp, than in the mortal world. He was still trying to limit causalities in the Titan war, and surely staying at camp to try and convince people not to join the Titans was a good start. Chaos had said it was his choice though, so what was he to do? He kinda wanted to leave camp, but he wanted to stay as well.

His train of thought was interrupted by Clarisse's rough voice. "What you making Punk?" Leo glanced down at his hands in surprise, he had barely registered that he was making something at all. It looked kinda like a weapons stand. The type that Jason had used in his room on the Argo two, to hold up his pilum. If he just added a couple of foldable legs...

He dug into his belt, and withdrew three foldable legs that he remembered putting in there earlier. He had been trying to see what type of leg would suit Buddfetta, and came to the conclusion that foldable ones were defiantly not right. He kept them though, because hey, they could come in handy.

He attached them to the body of the stand with practiced ease, and then realised he had failed to respond to Clarisse's question. "It's a spear holder, I think." He folded the legs up into the stand, and offered it to Clarisse, "Do you want to try it out?"

She took it, glancing sideways at his face, to see if he was tricking her. When she put it hesitantly around her spear, and it didn't destroy the thing, she looked more surprised. Leo frowned at that. Was she so used to people pranking her that she had come to be suspicious of even the tiniest thing?

Clarisse removed the stand from around the spear, and folded it back up. She passed it back to Leo, with a brief, "It works."

Leo sniffed, "Of course it works. I made it."He was a bit put down by the lack of reaction, but he pushed the stand back toward her, "Keep it, it's not like I have a spear I can use it for." Leo stood up, and began to walk to the forge, maybe making something would take his mind off whether to stay at camp or go back to the mortal world.

He was somewhat shocked when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Clarisse fall into step beside him, grunting "Thanks" so low that Leo almost didn't hear it. It made him smile though, he wondered if she had ever thanked anyone before. Or if she ever had reason to.

He turned to her, an idea forming in his head, and voiced a question that had been bothering him for a while. "Why do you hate Percy?"

Clarisse stopped with a snarl on her face. "Because that little worm broke Maimer! And embarrassed me in front of everyone." Leo figured it would be that Percy broke her spear, and, well, Percy had a habit of embarrassing everyone. What he didn't get was why the spear mattered. Sure it had been hers, but it was just a spear. Weapons got broken all the time.

Clarisse seemed to read his face, and he didn't think she was that observant, but she answered his question anyway. "That spear was the only thing my dad ever got me." Leo knew that feeling. He knew it too well.

"Hey Clarisse, you still got the pieces?" His idea had grown. He knew that because Clarisse and the Ares cabin refused to fight in the first part of the battle of Manhattan, quite a few demi-gods had died. He also knew that one of the main reasons she refused to fight was that the Ares cabin had developed an us vs. them mentality. If he could show Clarisse that not everyone hated the Ares cabin, then she might not refuse to fight.

Clarisse glared at him, daring him to mock her, "Yeah, so what?"

"I've got free time, if you want me to try and fix it. I could probably add more abilities that just electric as well. If you want." Leo glanced to his right, and saw Clarisse looking incredulously at him.

"You... What do you want in return?"

"For you to stop hating my best friend. By that I mean Percy."

"That's it?"

"Would you like me to add more conditions?"

Clarisse turned and made for the Ares cabin, at quite a speed, and Leo shouted after her, "Meet me in the forge!" After saying that, Leo rushed ahead to the forge, and grabbed the supply of Chaotic silver he had removed from the hidden area of Bunker nine. If he could fix Clarisse's spear with Chaotic silver, then he could make sure it would never break! That way she wouldn't be caught off guard when the replacement giant for Damasen swung his club at her and Piper.

By the time he had gotten the metal onto his bench and laid out the tools he thought he would need, Clarisse had arrived with her snapped spear. She handed it to Leo, who placed it onto the bench, and inspected the snapped wood. By the look of things, it had been a pretty clean break, so it wouldn't need much Chaotic Silver. If he could wind the Silver around the shaft of the spear, then infuse the Celestial bronze tip with Chaotic silver...

Leo picked up the block of Silver and plunged both it and his hands into the fire, ignoring Clarisse's shout, she had trusted him with his emotions, even if she hadn't realised she had yet. He figured that she knew enough about being an outcast to keep his secret. He glanced up at her, in the middle of shaping the block into a spear shaft to wind around the existing one, and she nodded, agreeing to his unspoken plea to keep it secret.

"Would you rather I fix the wooden shaft, or make a new shaft, with the same Celestial bronze tip?"

Clarisse glanced at the broken shaft, and nodded to Leo, "New shaft."

"Preference's on color?"

"You can do different colors?"

Leo grinned up at her, "Little know fact of the forge, if you add chemicals to the flames you forge in, depending on the chemical, the metal you're forging will end up with a hint of that color. So any preference?"

"Red."

Leo sighed. "Of course. Why would I think any different."

"Something against red punk?"

Leo sighed, and removed the shaft from the fire, to hammer it more into shape. He crossed the forge to get the Lithium powder. He threw a handful in the fire, ignoring Clarisse's reaction to the crimson flame. While the flame was still high, he grabbed the shaft of the spear, in flaming hands, and plunged it back into the fire, watching as the flames licked around it.

After five minutes of this, he removed the shaft for the last time, and let it cool. He then turned to the spearhead, and examined it, he could sense the wiring hidden within the tip, the wiring would produce the electric charge. As long as he left the tip alone, he could fuse the shaft and tip together no problem.

He set about doing just that, and little more than ten minutes later plunged the cooling spear into a trough of water, releasing clouds of steam into the workshop. As he watched the spear cool, he began to sing, a habit he had developed on the Argo two. Thinking back to the problem at hand, and forgetting that Clarisse was in the room, he sang. "Should I stay, or should I go?"

His song was interrupted by Clarisse, who was staring at the cooling crimson spear, with what looked like hunger on her face. "Is it done then?"

Leo snapped out of his mood, and replied. "Kind-of, I need to test the balance though. I tried to make it as much like the wooden shaft as possible, but it's a different metal, so you will have to test it, and tell me if it feels off. Leo plunged his hand into the now warm water, and removed the cool spear, handing it to Clarisse, who swung it round, her eyes closed, then frowned, as the spear tip angled a little toward the ground.

"Add weight to the back, it's unbalanced."

"Sure." Leo grabbed a disk of Chaotic silver, and added it to the base of the spear, heating his hand to a really high temperature, and melting the disk onto the end, then plunging it back into the water to cool, releasing only a little steam.

Leo handed the spear back to Clarisse, who swung it with a smile on her face, then opened her eyes again, and gave him a grin and a sincere, "Thanks Valdez. And about your dilemma. Just think this over. If you stay, you'll be one of the campers who I can challenge with my new spear..." With that Clarisse walked out of the forge, a scary grin on her face, and an upgraded spear clenched in her fist.

Leo replaced the rest of the silver, and cleared his bench, sticking some scraps in his belt. He rushed back to cabin 9. If Clarisse was going to be swinging that spear all year, then he was defiantly heading for the mortal world.

**Name three heroes who went to Calypso's island. **


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Awesome as Annabeth, you won, AGAIN! Ok, you get to review another character, but if you win today's question too... I'll have to give the prize to second place. Make it fair, because of course, as others can testify, time zones can suck when it comes to answering questions on a time limit! I'm sorry but you can't win all the time... (::) (::) (::) (::) And Drew... OK!**

** 4: Who's your most fave goddess?**

**5: fave god?**

**6: Hera, Persephone or Amphrodite?**

** P.S Drew is in this chapter, and next chapter, you'll see the return of a few OC's that were in CTF, see if you remember them...*grins* **

** On with the show...**

In which Leo gets waylaid by a daughter of Aphrodite

Leo passed by the arena on his way to the big house to give Chiron the answer to whether he was staying or not. His siblings hadn't taken it too well. Ever since he had let slip that he had lived in various foster homes since his mom had died, they had immediately assumed that he would be a year round camper.

The fact that he wasn't going to be, at least not this year, had them upset. Shane had immediately asked him if it was his fault, then Leo had to spend half an hour assuring him that there was nothing wrong with him, or camp. He just needed a break. The whole lot of them didn't let up till Leo had promised Nyssa that if it didn't work out, he'd come right back to camp- no matter what.

So, here he was, on the way to the big house to hand his slip in to Chiron. Well he was, until he saw Luke and Percy leaving the arena, Luke carrying a six pack of cola, and swinging a half celestial bronze, half steal sword. _Backbiter. _

Leo recalled the time Percy and Annabeth had told the rest of the seven about Luke. They had only done it once, so the memory was a little fuzzy. However he distinctly remembered that Percy said, the day he had found out Luke was the lightning thief, was the last week of the first time he was at camp. Luke had turned up with backbiter, and taken Percy for a walk in the woods.

Leo looked at the direction the two were heading. The woods it was. The form forgotten, Leo darted after them, hiding behind a dryads' tree when Luke looked around suspiciously. He was about to continue after them when he heard a shout from behind him.

"Where are you going? The woods are forbidden for a reason you know!" Such an irritating voice he had never before heard. At least, not since the time travel thing. If it wasn't the most unpopular sister of Piper ever, Drew Tanaka.

"Drew..." Leo turned on his heel to face the girl. She didn't actually look much like she did in the future. Sure she was still really pretty, and annoyingly whiny, but she had a light in her eyes, as oppose to the cold look of the Drew from the future. Like, she was happier now, like something had happened to her that caused the coldness and cruelty present in her future character. Leo decided he preferred this Drew.

Right now she was looking at him rather shocked. "You're that son of Hephaestus who saved the Aphrodite cabin! But how do you know my name?"

Leo backtracked. "I... Talked to Silena, and she mentioned you, so I figured you'd rather I called you by your name than, Oi you." Leo wondered what the twinkle in her eye meant.

"You remembered? Aww that's so sweet." Drew flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled at him, "You're Leo yeah? You saved me from that bench. You're a hero."

"Yeah..." Drew giggled at that, and Leo barely swallowed a hysterical laugh. Drew was hitting on him. Big step down from the girl who had to have Jason, or else. It seemed that though she may be nicer that the future, she still had to flirt with someone. He reckoned that she only picked him because of the bench thing though.

He wasn't a hero really, not compared to Percy at least. Speaking of Percy... Leo glanced behind him into the woods, he couldn't see Percy or Luke anymore, and Luke could have stabbed Percy by now! "I'm really sorry Drew, but I have to go, I'm worried about Percy in there. I can handle myself ok."

"Percy went into the woods?" Drew looked a little surprised at that. "There's monster's in there!"

Suddenly a brainwave struck Leo, "That's why I need you to get Chiron, please, Percy might be injured or something."

"What will you give me if I do that?"

Of course, there had to be a price. But Percy and Luke were getting further and further away. "What do you want Drew?"

"This." Drew walked up to him, and kissed him full on the lips; Leo stopped breathing in shock, and felt his pulse freeze for a second. She was freaking _kissing_ him! Kissing _him_! Yeah, sure it was Drew, and he was certain she only did it for a bet or something, but she was good looking... So he kissed back.

When Leo broke the kiss, which he felt had gone on long enough; he raised an eyebrow at Drew. At least he tried to raise an eyebrow, but as he was never very good at it, he ended up raising both, and looking like a demented owl. Drew giggled again, and left, calling over her shoulder that she would go and get Chiron, and he better go after Percy.

As she left though, he heard her mutter, "I win, I kissed Aphrodite cabin's saviour first."

Leo laughed at that, though he thought he should be a little disgruntled. He probably would have been the first time around, but this time, he just found it amusing. He put it out of his mind as he rushed along the trail after Luke and Percy.

He crashed through the forest, ignoring the few monsters he saw, who in turn ignored him. If he wasn't scared of them, he figured they'd think he didn't need to be and was a good fighter, so they'd leave him alone. It seemed a sound theory, and it also seemed to be working.

By the time he reached Zeus's fist, he was worried. What if he arrived too late? Or even too early, and Luke decided it was easier to just lope Percy's head off. He slowed before he reached, and slunk through the trees. Luke was still talking, which meant that Percy still had to be a little bit alive. Luke wasn't really the sort to talk to a dead body. At least, Leo didn't think he was.

"...Goodbye Percy."

Then Leo had to immediately jump behind a tree, so as not to be seen when Luke left. As soon as Luke had gone, Leo rushed out to where Percy was stumbling around, and grabbed his arm, mindful of the swelling on his hand, where he had been bitten, or stung by something, and by the swelling already multiplying, that something was very poisonous.

"Come on Percy, let's go, get you to Chiron. He will be able to heal you. Come on!"

"Leo?" Percy stumbled and almost fell. Leo slung an arm around Percy waist, and dragged him along the path, and back to camp. He was about half way back, when Percy collapsed, and Leo took his entire weight. Not expecting it, Leo tripped, and from the pain in his ankle, it was either broken or badly sprained. He got back up though, and kept running, with Percy almost hanging off him now. His ankle screamed at him every time it hit the uneven floor, and he couldn't help the gasps of pain that escaped.

By the time Leo saw the light at the edge of the forest, and Drew standing there, next to Chiron, (who was swishing his tail, and looking rather alarmed), he was almost passed out himself from the pain. He had fallen over, about half a dozen more times, and he was fairly certain that, if it wasn't before, his ankle was well and truly broken.

He reached the light at last, and ignoring Drew's shocked gasp, laid Percy on the floor in front of Chiron, and stayed conscious long enough to say, "Luke. Is thief. Poisoned Percy. His hand. Really bad. Don't know what."

Then the pain in his ankle grew to an unbearable crescendo, and his eyes rolled back into his head, as he collapsed into someone's arms...

* * *

The next think he knew, he was again in the infirmary. He groaned at the lingering pain in his ankle, and turned his head to look to his side. Percy was still unconscious, and Annabeth was standing next to him, looking worried. Leo sat up with another groan, and caught her attention. She turned to look at him, a fierce expression on her face, and demanded.

"Leo, what happened? I asked Chiron, but he wouldn't tell me. What happened to Percy? Who poisoned him? Why is Luke gone?"

Leo sighed, and spoke. "It's a long story, and I don't know all of it. Percy's the one who heard what Luke said. I only arrived to hear Luke saying goodbye to Percy, and then leave. I helped Percy back to camp, and brought him to Chiron. You'll have to wait till Percy wakes up for the rest of the story."

Annabeth looked upset at that, and Leo couldn't blame her. Hearing that the person who had looked after you for years, and who you might have a crush on, had poisoned your best friend. It must hurt. He turned away from Annabeth's hurt face, and saw the door open. Beckendorf entered.

"Leo, you're awake!"

"No, I'm an evil automaton version of your little brother. Leo Valdez in hidden in bunker 9, and you will never find him, Mwahahah." Beckendorf looked alarmed at that. "It's a joke Becky!"

"Becky?"

"Well, you're acting like a mother hen, so..."

Beckendorf looked actually angry at that. "My little brother just got injured. You could've died Leo! I think I have right to be worried over that."

"It was just a broken ankle. I wouldn't have died of it." Leo was feeling a little guilty over worrying his big brother, but he still thought Beckendorf was overreacting.

"If you had fainted in the woods, you could have died. You have no idea how many monsters are in there. And they're not all as friendly as Shelob!"

Leo frowned, and then sent an apologetic look at his brother, which relaxed him somewhat. "I... Sorry Beckendorf, I didn't mean to worry you. I'm not used to people who actually care."

Beckendorf frowned but nodded, and came to sit at the end of Leo's bed. Leo sent him a grin and continued, "...But, it proves that I'm no safe anywhere, which means I'll be in no more danger outside the camp as in it. I can handle the mortal world. So why don't you want me to go?"

"We're just worried..."

"You don't need to be!"

"It's a sibling's privilege!"

Leo looked at Beckendorf, who was trying not to grin. He then looked at Annabeth's flabbergasted face, and couldn't help but burst into laughter. So this year at camp was done, but he'd be back next year, and in the meantime, he knew how to manipulate the mist. He had unlimited (sort of) money, thanks to Chaos. This year was looking up...

**OK, This was the end of the Lightning thief arc. The next chapter will be the first in the Sea of monsters arc, and he's (Leo) going to be fostered/adopted.**

**What is the Name of the anti- Zeus giant? (Only answers that are spelt right will count!)**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thanks for the reviews folks, really. The winner for the last question was theChallanger42, even though they forgot to put a capital on the name. *shakes head* Grammar people, please. I can't really review to your challenge though. Have cookies and donuts to make up for it. (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O) **

**Disclaimer: If you recognise it, I don't own it.**

**Awesome as Annabeth, please tell me a character you want to appear.**

**Don't worry folks, Piper and Paul will appear eventually.**

**Some nice person, who evidently likes tortured Leo *cough* rock legend 166 *cough.* asked me if the people who adopt/foster Leo will abuse him. I tried to make it so you'll be happy, but I already have people in mind to adopt him (go look at ch 14 of change through flame) and they won't abuse him, so I've had some of the older kids at the orphanage do it. Cliché I know!**

** I'd like to say, that the only things I know about being in care is from watching shows and reading fanfics. Please, don't be offended at my rendition of it. I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm just ignorant. **

** 1: fave colo(u)r**

** 2: longest word you know (in any language, though if you can provide a translation if it's not English, please)**

** 3: fave flower. **

**On with the show...!**

* * *

In which Leo meets a couple of old friends...

Leo was really regretting leaving camp. Not that he would have liked being thrashed with Clarisse's spear, but it would probably have been better than this. He absentmindedly poked another bruise, wincing at the pain. He had forgotten in the years of fighting monsters, how much of a monster a human could be. He had been in the mortal world a week, and already he was thinking of packing his bags and hiking back to camp.

After he had left camp, and walked to New York, which took a while, he had just loitered outside a police station for a while. Eventually some officer had come out, and must have recognised him as Leo Valdez, the boy who was always running away from foster care, because he immediately dragged Leo back in to the station, and proceeded to call the nearest orphanage. So, here he was, in another orphanage. It wasn't so bad really, the food was good, and the care workers were surprisingly nice.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the other kids. On his first day, forgetting that he was twelve and not sixteen, he had unwisely told one of the fourteen year olds to pick on someone else, when he found him yelling at one of the six year olds. All that did was paint a massive sign over his head. A sign that read-pick on this kid. He lost count of the number of times one of the older kids had seen him in the hall, with no-one nearby, and punched him. Today was by far the worst though. Yesterday the care workers had been called to a conference, and only one had stayed. This meant that it was the perfect time for all the older kids to gang up on him.

They had caught him unaware as he left the games room, which was really a massive room with a piano, loads of board games and a pool table, and had backed him up against a wall. He had nowhere to run, so he just took it. After fighting a war, it didn't hurt that much, so he just kept quiet. He was regretting that now. If he had screamed, then the care worker would have found out, and the punches and stuff would probably have stopped. But then the older kids would have probably gone back to yelling and torturing the little ones, and Leo was less ok with that. At least this way he was helping the younger kids a little.

But today the bruises, though completely hidden by his cloths, (the bullies weren't stupid enough to hit him where the bruises could be seen), were purple, and it looked like he had just gone eight rounds with Frank in elephant form. In other words, he looked beat up. And to top it all, today was visitor day. Once a week, the orphanage would be open for people to visit. It was a scheme to encourage people to adopt, but it didn't seem to work as the care workers had hoped. Meaning, no-one had been adopted yet.

But there was always the next week, and Leo really didn't feel like getting up today. He lay back down on his bed, and closed his eyes, wondering how Percy was doing, back with his mom. Annabeth had gone back to her dad too, and Leo had a feeling that wouldn't go down very well. Annabeth was still very stubborn, and if she had gotten that from her dad... She'd probably be back at camp soon. Leo grabbed the blanket, and curled around it, ignoring the call for breakfast. He could easily get some food later, the cooks liked him anyway.

Before he had realised, he had dozed off again, and was rudely woken by a knock on his bedroom door. That was another good thing about this orphanage. Everyone, unless they specified they would like to share with a specific person, had their own room. It was a plus, because he could always retreat into his, and he refused to call it hiding. The knock came again, and Leo let out a groan.

The door opened, and Liz, one of the care workers, poked her head around it, gazing at the lump on the bed with a small smile. "Leo, you have to get up."

"Don't wanna..." Leo was kind-of surprised at how babyish he was acting. Usually he would have sent a grin in Liz's direction and joked about how he needed his beauty sleep, or something like that. But, he just wanted to sleep today. Maybe it was the bruises he had from yesterday: or maybe it was the fact that he didn't want to meet any visitors that might turn up. It felt a bit like the kids in care were being lined up to be inspected. He didn't like being treated as an object.

It seemed like Liz had picked up on his mood, and she had entered the room, her smile dropping. "Is there something wrong joker?"

All of the care workers had taken to calling him that, since the lot of them had watched batman on his second day, and Leo had constantly pointed out the flaws in the plans, and how he could have made the bat mobile so much better, ect. Eventually Kali, one of the smallest children, had turned round, and told Leo, "Be quiet, you're picking on batman so much you sound like the Joker."

After that moment of hilarity, everyone in the place that didn't hate him had taken to calling him the Joker. He didn't particularly mind, there were worse things they could have called him. Leo poked his head out of the sheets to assess whether he had been too much out of character. From the growing frown on Liz's face, he had. Time for some damage control. He grinned at her blearily. "But then again, if by getting up, I have to look at your ugly mug, well then who can blame me for not getting out of bed."

Liz's smile returned, and the tension in her frame leaked away. "You can't say much, as least I don't go around all day with hair like that!"

"There is nothing whatsoever wrong with my hair, it's part of the reason girls love me!"  
"In your dreams perhaps."

Leo gasped, and pretended to be offended. Eventually he sat up and turned his head away from her with a huff, sticking his nose in the air. She giggled, and left the room, calling over her shoulder that he better get up and changed, because the first visitors would be arriving in half an hour.

Within half an hour, Leo was dressed and in the games room, his tool belt firmly strapped around his middle. The supervisor of the orphanage had tried to take it from him, but after him proving it was empty, thanks to the mist, he was allowed to keep it. He had just been to the kitchen, and begged a muffin off Karen, who was the head cook, when the doorbell rang. The games room, which was right by the front door, was perfect for overhearing conversations, a fact which Leo now took advantage of.

He was kinda surprised that he was the only one with this idea, but he reckoned all the other kids were waiting in the dining room, or planning another ambush on Leo. That seemed to be the favourite pastime for half of the older kids. Leo leant agaist the wall, and closed his eyes, trying to hear the conversation. Liz had opened the door, and was talking to a man and a woman. Probably two people who couldn't have kids and were looking for a nice four years old to adopt.

Leo was almost ready to stop listening when he heard a younger voice. That was unusual. Not once in his time in care had a prospective parent brought along a kid. He focused again. "Mommy and daddy said they want another kid, because I'm not enough trouble anymore. They don't want me causing more trouble though, cus I asked that." Leo heard Liz's giggle at that, and couldn't keep from smiling himself.

"The doctor said they couldn't though. Cus it might, en... endager..."

"Endanger."

"That's what I said! It might en... hurt mommy. So, they said they might adopt. An I want a big brother! So I don't mind sharing my parents. They'll still be mine though, but I'll share them!"

Leo couldn't help laugh at that, he didn't mind sharing his parents, just so long as no-one tried to take them away. He wouldn't mind having a little brother like that. That voice sounded familiar though, where had he heard that little boy before? Leo was sure he had, not too long ago. After the time travel thing, but before camp...

He heard Liz asked the little boy a question, and the answer shocked him so much he fell of the chair he had been swinging on. It was the kid from the arch, Benny! Leo rubbed his head absentmindedly, as he winced at the pain from his bruises, where they hit the floor. He didn't notice the door open behind him, until a small head poked around it, and a young voice piped, "Leo?"

* * *

**Can you name a child of Hecate?**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Hey guys!**

** WhatUpMyPeeps, you're right! Have cookies, and please review the character you want in...(::)(::)(::)(::)(::).Nice word!**

**I am still waiting on theChallanger42... I need to know the character you want in it (sorry for the confusion last chapter). Have donuts to make up for it (o) (O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)**

**Dakota... ummm, way to make it hard for me *grins* I will manage never fear... Keep a lookout for him. **

**Disclaimer: If you recognise it, I don't own it**

**1: fave animal**

**2: Percy or Nico?**

**3: Leo or Percy?**

** Percebeth Jackson-chase, I feel like you need a reward for that long word. Is it a real word? ;) (::)(::)(::)(::) IT IS! I JUST LOOKED IT UP! *mind blown* **

In which Leo gets adopted...

After Benny had burst in, there was a moment of shocked silence, in which Leo's only thought was, _oh schist_! Then the moment was broken by the three adults following Benny. When they came into the room, both of Benny's parents stopped and stared at Leo, who cringed. He had hoped that they wouldn't recognise him. No such luck.

Liz hadn't seen the looks though, instead focusing on the collapsed chair. "Leo... How many times have we told you not to do that? You've only been here a week, and already have taken great delight in destroying the furniture!" Leo was about to retort when he noticed the glint in her eye...

"How can I help myself when the furniture takes great delight in destroying me?" Leo leant over and rubbed his back. "Ever heard of a cushion?" Leo ignored the giggle that Benny let out at that, grinning innocently at Liz, who threw her hands up in mock desperation. Just as Benny's mom opened her mouth, to ask Leo a question he probably wouldn't want to answer, there was an almighty crash from the dining room and a babble of voices started yelling.

Liz jumped, and then made for the door. She stopped as she reached it, and shot a glance back at the family and Leo. "I'm terribly sorry about this, but would you mind if I lift you here for a bit, I 'm sure Leo won't mind looking after you, and I need to go sort out the rabble." Here she directed a longsuffering glance to the door across the hall.

Leo frowned at that, no, he did not want to be left alone with these three; the questions would be very hard for him to answer. He took more offence at Liz's statement though. He gave a mock gasp, and held his hand to his chest. "Liz, you have wounded me... How dare you suggest that I am not part of the rabble? Why how very dare you! I will have you know, I am the rabblist rabbler that ever rabbled!"

Liz grinned sardonically, "Of course you are Valdez." Then she shut the door, and Leo was left with a family that was staring at him.

Leo sent a look to the closed door, if he bolted now he might make it... maybe... Benny's father seemed to catch his train of thought, and moved in front of the door. Maybe not then, the windows?

He was prevented from bolting however, when Benny came, and hugged his legs. Leo was so shocked, he sat down, thankful that there was a seat behind him, or that would have been really awkward. Benny seemed to take that as permission to clamber onto his lap. Leo sent a pleading look at Benny's mom, but she only grinned at him. Leo mentally groaned. Great, she had decided that as it kept Leo from attempting a dive out the window, Benny could stay where he was.

Benny looked up at Leo, and asked, "Will you be my big brother?"

Leo gave a shocked laugh. There were many reasons that he shouldn't be adopted by these guys. Manly that, unlike most of his other foster families, these people, as far as he could judge, were good people. He didn't want them hurt when he inevitably ran away. Then they would be a target for monsters, or could get hurt if any monsters came to attack Leo. No he defiantly couldn't be adopted by these guys. How on earth would he explain that without hurting Benny's feelings?

While he was thinking, he must have been wearing a shocked face, because Benny's mom (and he really needed to stop calling her that) had started talking. "Benny, you can't just say that."

"Why not, you said I could get a big brother, and I want Leo!"

"Because it's not fair to Leo. He might not want to be your big brother."

Benny turned big eyes back to Leo, and bit his lip, his eyes shimmering. "You don't want to be my big brother?"

Leo mentally groaned again. How come small children could always pull of that look? It was really irritating! Leo swore he heard a small giggle from the door, and glanced up, to see the tail of a Greek dress spin out of sight. Who?

Leo turned back to Benny, who was now sniffling. He moved Benny off his lap and onto the floor, glancing at his parents, who weren't saying anything. Benny dad sent him thumbs up, and mouthed "going great." When Benny was on the floor, Leo knelt in front of him, realising that this brought him to Benny's height. He hadn't realised how small he actually was at twelve.

"It's not that I don't like you Benny. But you remember the monster." Leo stopped until Benny nodded, and then continued "there are more monsters Benny, and they're mad at me, I don't want you or your family getting hurt because I'm living with you." He gave Benny a smile, a true smile, which he didn't do very often, and Benny smiled slowly back.

Leo stood up again, and guided Benny to the corner of the room, where there was a box of Lego. Benny was about four, he should be able to play with Lego without eating it, right? He sat Benny down, and pulled out the Lego ship he had hidden. It was a mini version of the Argo two, with movable pieces. Benny's eyes got big as he looked at it, and he immediately pulled it toward him, and started moving around the blond Lego-man at the prow. Leo grinned as Benny stuck Jason headfirst through one of the doors on the deck, and then stood up, and headed back to where Benny's parents were now seated.

Leo took a seat on the couch opposite theirs, on the other side of the pool table, and looked to them expectantly, realising that they probably had 101 questions for him.

Benny's mom was the first to speak, and she sat forward to do so, "Leo, I'm sure you realise we have a load of questions, but before we start, we had better introduce ourselves. My name's Jo, and this is Harvey."

Leo nodded at them, "Ok, bring on the interrogation."

Harvey chuckled at that, and looked at Jo, who seemed to be expecting a little more protest than Leo had given. Leo wasn't bothered, he knew he didn't have a chance of escaped anyway, might as well accept the interrogation. Harvey then spoke. "Leo, you said at the arch that both you and your father were a part of a terrorist fighting group. Could you elaborate on that?"

Leo sighed, grateful that the mist had done its job. "I can't say too much, because, it's meant to be a secret. Long story short, most of these robotic things... I just call them monsters, I find it easier. Most of the monsters just stay out of the way the majority of the time. The government's not that bother about them the majority of the time, since their very good at hiding, and trying to track them all down would cause a national upheaval..."

"Why fix what isn't broken."

"Pretty much. Every now and again, one will attack somewhere random, and one of my lot is brought in. We get rid of the problem. That's what happened at the arch."

Jo frowned at that, "Oh, your friend, at the arch, the one who fell, did he... Is he..."

"He's fine. He grabbed onto a ledge on the way down. I'm still not sure how he did that, but he managed it, and he's fine."

Harvey spoke again. "So, can you elaborate on your lot, or is that secret?"

"You too are taking this a whole lot better that I thought you would."

The two smiled, and Jo elaborated. "We saw that robotic... We saw the monster, and you saved our lives. We would likely have been dead otherwise, once it almost kills you, it's hard not to believe in it."

"Fair enough. So, my lot... All I can say is it's a department, originally consisting of twelve monster hunters, and the rest of us are their kids, which was why it's a family business." Leo grinned at that, family business indeed, if you were a demigod, you had no choice but to fight monsters. Unless you chose to die instead.

"If it's a family business, then why are you in an orphanage?"

"It's dangerous, you saw Percy fall at the arch, my mom's dead, and dad's... Well, he was on a mission, and he hasn't come back. He's been declared MIA, so I was sent here. The government kindly provided me with a back story, so here I am."

Leo looked away from the two sympathetic grown-ups, mom was dead, and dad might as well be MIA, the amount of time he spent with his kids. He was over it anyway. With the future taken into account it had been 11 years since his moms death anyway, at least for him. So why could he feel tears in his eyes?

He saw Benny playing with the mini Argo two, he had found the piper modal, and was trying to make the two swordfight. Leo couldn't help but smile at the noises he was making. "Crash, I win, you girl!" "No, blond, I WILL WIN!" Such dramatic insults, girl and blond. Leo was sure the real Jason and Piper would be in stitches at the fight. Well, his Jason and Piper. His smile grew sadder as he looked away, the tears springing back into his eyes. His Jason and Piper were gone. For good. He would likely become friends with them again, but they might never again have the same friendship as they had before.

Piper would never cry on his shoulder after Jason's fall. Jason would never come to him and obsess over how he was going to have to try to convince the Romans not to fight with Greece. Those things wouldn't happen, and the loss hadn't struck him till now. That friendship- those moments, they would never happen, and only Leo would remember it being any other way.

Leo felt a hand on his shoulder, and someone wiping away the wetness on his cheeks. Why was he crying? No-one had died; he had no reason to cry, but if felt like Jason and piper had just died again, and this time his friendship, his memories had died too. Here... They had never really happened.

He was aware of arms wrapping around him, and a soft voice murmuring something. "...Alright Leo... It's ok..."

Leo grinned, and scrubbed of the tears, blinking again to get rid of them. He sent a grateful look at Jo, who withdrew, rubbing her own eyes, and Harvey removed the hand that had been on his shoulder. "So, Leo, you've told us that you are part of a hidden army, what's the reason you don't want us to adopt you?

Leo's indignation came back in a rush. "I don't want you hurt. If a monster attacks me, you could get hurt. I don't want to hurt your family."

"Leo, we've seen you fight, you could protect us, and the way we see it, you need a family. So why not us?"

Leo was warring with himself. He so wanted to be a part of this family, to fit somewhere other than camp, to look after a little brother without Beckendorf or Nyssa hovering over his shoulder, but he didn't want to hurt them, and what about camp... He had fought agaist Gaia and her giants; he could cope with whatever monster was idiot enough to attack him... So against his better judgement, Leo found himself grinning at Harvey and Jo.

"I can be a right menace you know."

**What is the meal that May Castellan constantly makes for her son (sandwiches and drink)? **


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: You are all going to hate me.**

**ALL OF YOU. **

**Well maybe not all...**

**Don't worry I'm not abandoning the story, or anything else like that. What I am doing is being really strict on the questions. The answer was Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches, burnt cookies and Cool-aid. **

**That being said. All those who just put peanut butter sandwiches DON'T COUNT. Nor do peanut butter and Jam- so close! Not even if you specified mouldy sandwiches. **

**That being said, and please don't hate me, the winner is Jess411, congratulations, have donuts, and please review the character. (O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O) **

**Dakota is coming, never fear... **

**1: are you on your phone or laptop, (or other) while reading this? **

**2: what's your favourite month? **

**3: Do you have a pet? **

**Allons-e **

In which Leo meets an odd sort of Roman...

Benny, Harvey and Jo visited a lot, over the next fortnight. There was a policy at the orphanage that an orphan could only be adopted if the orphanage had known about them for the minimum of two weeks. This also allowed for background checks, ect.

By the time the two weeks were over Leo was all set to leave. He had been beaten up again, and was about to snap at the bullies and set them on fire- mortals or not. Then he began to feel uneasy about one of the care workers. Not Liz, but a new one, who had arrived just before Leo. Her name was Serephone, AKA Sally, and it felt like one of her legs was made of metal or something, though it didn't look to be.

Leo thought she was a monster. He didn't know which one though, he thought he remembered something like her in the battle with Gaia, but he couldn't remember the name. Plus, it didn't seem like she had realised he was a half-blood, as she was equally mean to the entirety of the home. Leo had heard Liz complaining about her, but apparently she had been one of the careers at another orphanage, which was closed down because the boys in it kept disappearing, as if they were eaten in the night. Of course, Leo wasn't blaming Serephone for it at all...

Either way, Leo was leaving the next day, and since he was leaving, he could off her ASAP now. If he was accused of killing her, he could manipulate the mist- now that he knew how, and he was leaving the orphanage anyway. He could always explain to Jo and Harvey that Serephone was a monster anyway.

He was trying to figure out how to catch Serephone off guard, so he could send her back to Tartarus, hopefully for a prolonged stay, when the door bell opened. He stood up from his seat on the snooker tabled and poked his head around the door to the hall. He thought that it might be Harvey, who had promised to pop round today to help Leo move his stuff from the room to the Miles's apartment. Miles was the surname of Jo Harvey and Benny, and though they had offered that he take their name, Leo had politely refused. He didn't want to lose anything else his mom had given him.

It wasn't Harvey though. It was a policeman with a boy of about fourteen, who looked remarkably drunk. The moment Leo saw the boy; it felt like a big red warning light went off in his brain. Danger, stay away, not one of you.

From the way the boys' eyes snapped up to meet with his, he felt the same way, and his eyes narrowed. What was he? He didn't look act or feel like any of the monsters Leo had ever encountered, and he had met rather a lot of those. In fact, he had disciplined air, as much as possible when he was drunk- or at least acting it. He felt a little like... Like Jason!

Roman. The boy was a roman demigod, and he was a Greek one. This was going to end as badly as a grenade in a shopping mall. Why was he even here? Did he know he was a demigod? By the way he was grabbing at his forearm it seemed so; as if his tattoo was already burnt on. But if he had already been to camp Jupiter, what was he doing here? Unless he had been sent to do something special- but there was nothing special at this orphanage, except Serephone, and Leo.

Leo gulped- he hoped it was Serephone that the Roman had been sent after, but somehow, he was never that lucky.

The policeman was by now almost finishing his talk with Liz, who nodded and frowned in the right places, and then the policeman left and the roman was standing next to Liz, with the door slamming behind him. Half drunk or not, Leo suddenly felt a little threatened by the guy. Roman guy turned his head to stare at Leo, his eyes harsh and glinting. Leo got the impression of a wolf about to strike as he meet the cold eyes look for look.

The roman seemed surprised by that, as if he had expected Leo to back down or run away. Maybe Leo would have retreated had he actually been 12. But he had been through a war where he had fought giants. Suddenly one stare, intimidating though it may have been meant... Wasn't that scary. Leo saw a flash of respect dart through the wolfish eyes, before the cold look returned. So that's what was going on. The Wolf glare. Jason had told him it was a look that every roman learned from Lupa. It was directed at enemies as a warning or challenge, and was usually hard to stand up to. Of course when Jason had whispered this in his ear, it happened to be with Reyna giving him said glare.

Liz interrupted the staring contest with a grin, tapping the roman on the shoulder. "So Dakota, did you actually drink your weight in kool-aid, or was it just an expression?"

The roman- Dakota- looked a little thrown off at that. He probably wasn't expecting Liz to be so forward and friendly. He stumbled a reply that sounded a little like "Well... Yeah... I... Kinda...Yeah I did."

Leo couldn't help joining Liz in laughing, even if it brought Dakota's attention back to himself. Liz looked in Leo's direction. "Hey Leo, I've got to go and sort out Katy's school project, would you mind showing Dakota your room. He's going to share with you tonight, and when you leave tomorrow, it's gonna be his room."

"Um, Liz, I'm not sure that's a good idea, perhaps you better... And she's gone."Leo sighed and eyed the roman carefully. "OK, this way, Dakota. If you're planning on stabbing me or any such thing, could you at least wait till we're where no-one can see?"

The roman stared at him; in what Leo thought was disgust. His hand was on the handle of the sword that he could see through the mist, and Leo gulped, his eyes on it. He lead the way to his room, and barely had time to breath before the roman was shoving him up against the wall, his arm pressing agaist Leo's windpipe, and his sword by Leo's heart.

Leo struggled to breathe as the roman stared at him, and his started panicking, how was he supposed to explain that he wasn't a monster if he wasn't allowed to breath. He felt lightheaded. Then Dakota spoke. "Why aren't you fighting coward?"

Leo grabbed at the arm around his neck, and gasped for air as it was loosened slightly. "Cus..." He wheezed, "I don't wanna hurt you."

"You're a monster Tartarus spawn- you exist to kill demigods like myself. I don't know what you are- you must have a strong way with the mist- but I was sent to kill the monster here, and you fit the bill."

"I'm not a monster I swear." Leo could see the roman didn't believe him, he was drawing back his sword ready to stab him, and Leo panicked. He ducked at the same time as removing a hammer from his tool belt. Escaping the arm that held his neck, and blocking the stab at his heart, he spun away from the wall, his hammer in front of him, and the roman spun too. He slashed the sword again, neatly cutting the wooden shaft of the hammer in two. Leo raised his hand to protect his face, and felt the sword slice through his arm, red blood flowing down to stain the floor, in a crimson waterfall. Leo closed his eyes and waited for the blow that would surely kill him, absentmindedly realising that he now had yet another scar on his arm.

He realised after about a minute that now blow was coming, and he opened his eyes to see the roman standing by the bed, his sword lowered, and staring at the blood puddle growing on the floor. Leo wondered how deep the cut was- to produce that amount of blood. Come to think of it, he was feeling a little light headed from blood loss. A low voice from the other demigod reached his ears.

"You bleed red. Blood- not ichor. You were telling the truth. I attacked you for no reason."

The roman looked distraught by the fact that he had attacked someone who was innocent, which made Leo happy; this was a roman who actually gave a dam. So many who followed Octavian didn't.

"The sword still cut me- proves I'm not mortal at least. Though for a Roman- You did act rather without thinking. Veni vidi vici, and all that."

"You say roman, as if you aren't."

"I'm Greek."

Dakota jumped at that, and brought his sword up again, then looked at the crimson carpet underneath and all round Leo. The cut in his arm still bleeding heavily. "Still not an excuse to attack you."

Leo grinned, "A reasonable Roman, that's an odd sort."

"I've already given you one wound Greek. Is taunting me wise?"

"My name's Leo, feel free to use it Dakota. I'll assume you're here about Serephone. I'm not exactly sure what she is. I know she had one metal leg, and teeth like a vampire. "

"Empousa, servant of Hecate."

"Oh, that explains a few things. If you're planning on killing Serephone, you're going to need bait. I'm volunteering. I can run fast, I've already got the blood to temp her with," Here he lifted up his arm, winching slightly at the pain in it. "I can also fight her- If you end up failing."

"I won't fail."

"Everyone makes mistakes."

After a bit more discussion and Leo hiding his arm, just in case they met any mortals while looking for Serephone. As they left, Leo noticed the pile of blood behind them on the floor, and suddenly felt very sorry for the cleaner.

It took about half an hour to locate Serephone in a mortal less room, and Dakota kindly pushed Leo in first, drawing the attention of the magic vampire. Her eyes immediately zoomed in on Leo's cut, ignoring the way Dakota slipped in and moved behind her. She approached him, her voice becoming serpentine. "Little demi-god, you sssseem to have cut your ssself, let me help. It won't hurt. I'll only drain you of your lifeblood." Then she lunged, and grabbed him around the neck, just where Dakota had pushed him against the wall. The bruises flamed up, and Leo sent Dakota a glance.

Just as the Empousa opened her mouth, she got a sword up her rear, and exploded into golden dust... This went all over Leo. Dakota grinned at him, and Leo scowled. "Get going Roman, and I'd advice leaving the back way."

"Why?"

There was a distant scream from the floor above, and Leo's name shouted as loud as possible.

"Because" Leo sent the demi-god a grin, "Someone's just found the pool of blood."

**Just once, we have a non- PJO question. **

**What does Veni, Vidi, Vici mean? **


End file.
